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Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Vol. 4 [10]

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Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome by Titus Livius. Translated from the Original with Notes and Illustrations by George Baker, A.M.. First American, from the Last London Edition, in Six Volumes (New York: Peter A. Mesier et al., 1823). Vol. 4.
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Vol. 4 of Livy’s History of Rome from its founding to the reign of Augustus.

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CONTENTS OF THE FOURTH VOLUME.

THE HISTORY OF ROME.

BOOK XXVIII.

Successful operations against the Carthaginians, in Spain, under Silanus, Scipio’s lieutenant, and L. Scipio, his brother; of Sulpicius and Attalus, against Philip King of Macedonia. Scipio finally vanquishes the Carthaginians in Spain, and reduces that whole country; passes over into Africa; forms an alliance with Syphax King of Numidia; represses and punishes a mutiny of a part of his army; concludes a treaty of friendship with Masinissa; returns to Rome, and is elected consul; solicits Africa for his province, which is opposed by Quintus Fabius Maximus; is appointed governor of Sicily, with permission to pass over into Africa.

Y.R.545. bc207.I. AT the time when, in consequence of Hasdrubal’s removing his forces, Spain seemed to be relieved of so much of the burden of the war as had been thrown upon Italy, hostilities suddenly revived there with the same violence as before. The possessions of the Romans and Carthaginians in Spain, at that time, were thus situated: Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, had withdrawn quite to the ocean and Gades; the coast of our sea, and almost all that part of Spain which lies to the eastward, was under the power of Scipio, and the dominion of the Romans. Hanno, Edition: current; Page: [4] on the tenth day to Hasdrubal in the province of Gades: the Celtiberian soldiers, being newly levied, dispersed into the neighbouring woods, and thence escaped to their respective homes. By this seasonable victory, was suppressed a war, which was not of so much importance on account of its present magnitude, as of its being a foundation from which one much more considerable might have arisen, had the enemy been allowed, after having roused the Celtiberians to arms, to persuade the other states to join in the same cause. Scipio, therefore, having bestowed liberal commendations on Silanus, and seeing reason to hope that he might be able to finish the dispute at once, by exerting himself with proper activity, advanced into Farther Spain against Hasdrubal. The Carthaginian, (who happened at that time to have his army in Bætica, for the purpose of securing the fidelity of his allies in that country,) decamping hastily, led it away, in a manner much more resembling a flight than a march, quite to the ocean and Gades. He was fearful, however, that as long as he kept his forces together, he should be considered as the primary object of the enemy’s operations. Before he passed over the streight to Gades, he therefore dispersed them into the different cities; in the view, likewise, that they might provide for their own safety by help of walls, and for that of the towns by their arms.

III. When Scipio found that the enemy’s troops were thus widely scattered, and that the carrying about his own to each of the several cities would be a very tedious if not difficult work, he marched back his army. Unwilling, however, to leave the possession of all that country to the Carthaginians, he sent his brother, Lucius Scipio, with ten thousand foot and one thousand horse, to lay siege to the most considerable city in those parts, called by the barbarians Orinx, situate on the borders of the Milesians, a Spanish nation so called—a desirable spot, the adjacent parts affording mines of silver, Edition: current; Page: [5] and the soil being fruitful. This place served Hasdrubal as a fortress, whence he used to make incursions on the states around. Scipio encamped near to it. Before raising his works of circumvallation, however, he sent some persons to the gates to try the disposition of the inhabitants in a conference, and to recommend to them rather to make trial of the friendship than the power of the Romans. As their answers showed no inclination to peace, he surrounded the city with a trench and a double rampart; breaking his army into three parts, in order that one division might always carry on the attack while the other two rested. When the first of these began the assault, the contest was furious and desperate: it was with the greatest difficulty that they could approach, or bring up the ladders to the walls, on account of the showers of weapons which fell upon them; and even of those who had raised them, some were tumbled down with forks made for the purpose, others found themselves in danger of being caught by iron grapples, and of being dragged up on the wall. When Scipio saw that his men were too few to make an impression, and that the enemy, from the advantage of their works, had even the better of the dispute, he called off the first division, and attacked with the two others at once. This struck such terror into the besieged, already fatigued, that not only the townsmen quickly forsook the walls, but the Carthaginian garrison, fearing that the town had been betrayed, likewise left their posts and collected themselves into a body. The inhabitants, upon this, were seized with apprehensions lest the enemy, if they broke into the town, should put to the sword every one they met without distinction, whether Carthaginian or Spaniard. They instantly, therefore, threw open one of the gates, and rushed out of the town in crowds, holding their shields before them, lest any weapons should be cast at them, and stretching out their right hands expanded, to show that they had thrown away their swords. Whether Edition: current; Page: [6] this latter circumstance was unobserved on account of the distance, or whether some stratagem was suspected, is uncertain; but the deserters were attacked as enemies, and put to death. Through this gate the troops marched into the city in hostile array. The other gates were broke open with axes and sledges, and as soon as the horsemen entered, they galloped forward to secure the Forum, for such were the orders; the veterans also were joined to the horse to support them. The legionary soldiers spread themselves all over the city, but, neither slew nor plundered any, except those who stood on their defence. All the Carthaginians were put into confinement, with above three hundred of the inhabitants who had shut the gates; the rest had the town delivered up to them, and their effects restored. There fell in the assault, of the enemy, about two thousand; of the Romans, not more than ninety.

IV. As the capture of this city afforded matter of much exultation to those engaged in it, so it rendered their approach to the camp a magnificent spectacle to the general and the rest of the army, on account of the immense crowd of prisoners which they drove before them. Scipio, having declared his approbation of his brother’s conduct, and in the highest strains extolled his taking of Orinx as equal to his own taking of Carthage, led back his forces into Hither Spain. The approach of winter put it out of his power either to make an attempt on Gades, or to pursue the army of Hasdrubal, now dispersed in all parts of the province. Dismissing, therefore, the legions to their winter quarters, and sending his brother, Lucius Scipio, with Hanno, the enemy’s general, and other prisoners of distinction, to Rome, he himself retired to Tarraco. During the same year, the Roman fleet, under Marcus Valerius Lævinus, proconsul, sailing over from Sicily to Africa, made extensive devastations in the territories of Utica and Carthage, carrying off Edition: current; Page: [7] plunder from the remotest bounds of the Carthaginian territory, even from under the very walls of Utica. On their return to Sicily, they were met by a Carthaginian fleet, consisting of seventy ships of war; seventeen of these they took, and sunk four; the rest were beaten and dispersed. The Romans, victorious by land and sea, returned to Lilybæum, with immense booty of every kind. The sea being thus cleared of the enemy, abundance of provision was brought to Rome.

V. In the beginning of the summer, during which these transactions passed, Publius Sulpicius, pro-consul, and King Attalus, after having wintered at Ægina as mentioned above, united their fleets, consisting of twenty-three Roman five-banked gallies, and thirty-five belonging to the King, and sailed from thence to Lemnos. Philip also, that he might be prepared for every sort of exertion, whether he should have occasion to oppose the enemy on land or sea, came down to the coast of Demetrias, and appointed a day for his army to assemble at Larissa. On the news of the King’s arrival, embassies from his allies came to Demetrias from all sides: for the Ætolians, elated both by their alliance with the Romans, and by the approach of Attalus, were ravaging the neighbouring states. Not only the Acarnanians, Bœotians, and Eubœans, were under violent apprehensions, but the Achæans also were kept in terror, as well by the hostilities of the Ætolians, as by Machanidas, tyrant of Lacedæmon, who had pitched his camp at a small distance from the borders of the Argives. All these, representing the dangers both on land and sea, with which their several possessions were threatened, implored the King’s assistance. Philip, even from his own kingdom, received accounts that affairs there were not in a state of tranquillity; that both Scerdilædus and Pleuratus were in motion; and that some of the Thracians, particularly the Mædians, would certainly make Edition: current; Page: [8] incursions into the adjoining provinces of Macedonia, if the King should be employed in a distant war. The Bœotians, indeed, and the people of the inland parts of Greece, informing him that, in order to prevent them from passing to the assistance of the allied states, the streights of Thermopylæ, where the road is confined, and contracted to a very narrow breadth, had been shut up by the Ætolians with a ditch and a rampart. Such a number of disturbances on all sides were sufficient to rouse even an indolent leader: he dismissed the ambassadors with promises of assisting them all, as time and circumstances would permit. He sent to Peparethus a garrison for the city, a business which required the utmost despatch, accounts having been received from thence, that Attalus had sailed over from Lemnos, and was ravaging all the country round. He despatched Polyphantas, with a small number of forces to Bœotia; and likewise Menippus, one of the officers of his guards, with one thousand targeteers, (the target is not unlike the common buckler,) to Calchis. Agrianum was reinforced with five hundred men, that all parts of the island might be secured. He himself went to Scotussa, ordering the Macedonian troops to be brought over thither from Larissa. He was there informed that the Ætolians had been summoned to an assembly at Heraclea, and that King Attalus was to come to consult with them on the conduct of the war. Resolving to disturb this meeting by his sudden approach, he led his army by forced marches to Heraclea, and arrived there just after the assembly had been dismissed. However, he destroyed the crops, which were almost ripe, particularly round the Ænian bay. He then led back his forces to Scotussa, and leaving there the body of his army, retired with the royal guards to Demetrias. That he might be in readiness to meet every effort of the enemy, he sent people from hence to Phocis, and Eubœa, and Peparethus, to choose out elevated situations, where fires being Edition: current; Page: [9] lighted, might be seen from afar. He fixed a beacon on Tisæum, a mountain whose summit is of an immense height, that by means of lights on these eminences, whenever the enemy made any attempt, he might, though distant, receive instant intelligence of it. The Roman general and King Attalus passed over from Peparethus to Nicæa, and from thence sailed to the city of Orcus, which is the first city of Eubœa, on the left, on the way from the bay of Demetrias to Chalcis and the Euripus.

VI. It was concerted between Attalus and Sulpicius, that the Romans should assault the town on the side next the sea, and at the same time make an attack on the King’s forces on the land side. Four days after the arrival of the fleet, the operations began. The intermediate time had been spent in private conferences with Plator, who had been appointed by Philip to the command of the place. There are two citadels, one hanging over the coast, the other in the middle of the town, and from this there is a subterraneous passage to the ocean, the entrance of which, next to the sea, is covered with a strong fortification, a tower five stories in height. Here the contest first commenced, and that with the utmost violence, the tower being well stored with all kinds of weapons; these, with engines and machines for the assault, having been landed from the ships. While the attention and eyes of all were drawn to that side, Plator, opening one of the gates, received the Romans into the citadel next the sea, of which they became masters in a moment. The inhabitants, driven thence, fled to the other citadel in the middle of the city; but troops had been posted there, to keep the gates shut against them, so that, being thus excluded and surrounded, they were all either slain or taken prisoners. In the mean time the Macedonian garrison, making no resistance, stood in a compact body under the walls. These men Plator (having obtained leave from Sulpicius) embarked in some Edition: current; Page: [10] ships, and landed them at Demetrias in Phthiotis; he himself withdrew to Attalus. Sulpicius, elated by his success at Oreum, so easily obtained, proceeded with his victorious fleet to Chalcis, where the issue by no means answered his expectations. The sea, from being pretty wide at each side, is here contracted into a streight so very narrow, that at first view the whole appears like two harbours facing the two entrances of the Euripus. A more dangerous station for a fleet can hardly be found; for besides that the winds rush down suddenly, and with great fury, from the high mountains on each side, the streight itself of the Euripus does not ebb and flow seven times a day at stated hours, as report says; but the current, changing irregularly, like the wind, from one point to another, is hurried along like a torrent tumbling from a steep mountain; so that, night or day, ships can never lie quiet. But, besides the perilous situation in which his fleet lay, he found that the town was firm and impregnable; surrounded on one side by the sea, extremely well fortified by land on the other; secured by a strong garrison, and, above all, by the fidelity of the commanders and principal inhabitants; which character those at Oreum had not supported with honour or steadiness. The Roman, in a business rashly undertaken, acted so far prudently, that, when he had seen all the difficulties attending it, not to waste time, he quickly desisted from the attempt, removing with his fleet from thence to Cynus in Locris, the landing-place for the city of Opus, which lies at a distance of a mile from the sea.

VII. Philip had received notice from Oreum by the signal fires; but, through the treachery of Plator, it was too late when they were raised on the beacons, and, as he was not a match for the enemy at sea, it was difficult for him to approach the island; he hesitated, therefore, and took no part in that business. To the relief of Chalcis he flew with Edition: current; Page: [11] alacrity, as soon as he perceived the signal. For though Chalcis stands on the same island, yet the streight which separates it from the continent is so narrow, that there is a communication between them by a bridge, and the approach to it is easier by land than by water. Philip, therefore, having gone from Demetrias to Scotussa, and setting out thence at the third watch, dislodged the guard, routed the Ætolians who kept possession of the pass of Thermopylæ, and drove the dismayed enemy to Heraclea, accomplishing in one day a march of above sixty miles to Elatia in Phocis. About the same time the city of Opus was taken and plundered by Attalus. Sulpicius had given it up to the King, because Oreum had been sacked a few days before by the Roman soldiers, and his men had received no share. After the Roman fleet had retired to Oreum, Attalus, not apprised of Philip’s approach, wasted time in levying contributions from the principal inhabitants; and so unexpected was his coming, that, had not some Cretans, who happened to go in quest of forage farther from the town than usual, espied the enemy, he might have been surprised. Without arms, and in the utmost confusion, he fled precipitately to his ships. Just as they were putting off from the land, Philip came up, and though he did not advance from the shore, yet his arrival caused a good deal of confusion among the mariners. From thence he returned to Opus, inveighing against gods and men for his disappointment in having the opportunity of striking so important a blow thus snatched from him, and when almost within reach of his arm. The Opuntians, also, he rebuked in angry terms, because, although they might have prolonged the siege until he arrived, yet they had immediately, on sight of the enemy, made almost a voluntary surrender. Having put affairs at Opus in order, he proceeded thence to Thronium. On the other side, Attalus at first retired to Oreum, but having heard there, that Prusias, King Edition: current; Page: [12] of Bithynia, had invaded his kingdom, he laid aside all attention to the affairs of the Romans and the Ætolian war, and passed over into Asia. Sulpicius, too, withdrew his fleet to Ægina, from whence he had set out in the beginning of spring. Philip found as little difficulty in possessing himself of Thronium, as Attalus had met at Opus. This city was inhabited by foreigners, natives of Thebes in Phthiotis, who, when their own was taken by the Macedonian, had fled for protection to the Ætolians, and had obtained from them a settlement in this place, which had been laid waste and deserted in the former war with the same Philip. After recovering Thronium in the manner related, he continued his route; and having taken Tritonos and Drymæ, inconsiderable towns of Doris, he came thence to Elatia, where he had ordered the ambassadors of Ptolemy and the Rhodians to wait for him. While they were deliberating there, on the method of putting an end to the Ætolian war, (for the ambassadors had been present at the late assembly of the Romans and Ætolians at Heraclea,) news was brought that Machanidas intended to attack the people of Elis while they were busied in preparations for solemnizing the Olympic games. Judging it incumbent on him to prevent such an attempt, he dismissed the ambassadors with a favourable answer, that “he had neither given cause for the war, nor would give any obstruction to a peace, provided it could be procured on just and honourable terms:” then, proceeding through Bœotia by quick marches, he came down to Megara, and from thence to Corinth; and, receiving there supplies of provision, repaired to Phlius and Pheneus. When he had advanced as far as Heræa, intelligence was brought him that Machanidas, terrified at the account of his approach, had retreated to Lacedæmon; on which he withdrew to Ægium, where the Achæans were assembled in council, expecting at the same time to meet there a Carthaginian fleet which he Edition: current; Page: [13] had sent for, in order that he might be able to undertake some enterprise by sea. But the Carthaginians had left that place a few days before, and were gone to the Oxean islands; and from thence, (on hearing that the Romans and Attalus had left Oreum,) to the harbours of the Acarnanians; for they apprehended that an attack was intended against themselves, and that they might be overpowered while within the streights of Rhios (so the entrance of the Corinthian bay is called.)

VIII. Philip was filled with grief and vexation when he found that, although he had on all occasions made the most spirited and speedy exertions, yet fortune had baffled his activity, by snatching away every advantage when he had it within his view. In the assembly, however, concealing his chagrin, he spoke with great confidence, appealing to gods and men, that “at no time or place had he ever been remiss; that wherever the sound of the enemy’s arms was heard, thither he had instantly repaired; but that it could hardly be determined, whether, in the management of the war, his forwardness or the enemy’s cowardice was more conspicuous; in such a dastardly manner had Attalus slipped out of his hands from Opus; Sulpicius from Chalcis; and in the same way, within these few days, Machanidas. That flight, however, did not always succeed; and that a war should not be accounted difficult, in which victory would be certain if the foe could be brought to a regular engagement. One advantage, however, and that of the first magnitude, he had already acquired; the confession of the enemy themselves, that they were not a match for him; in a short time,” he said, “he should have to boast of undoubted conquest; for whenever the enemy would meet him in the field, they should find the issue no better than they seemed to expect.” This discourse of the King was received by the allies with great pleasure. He then gave up to the Achæans Heræa and Triphylia. Edition: current; Page: [14] Aliphera he restored to the Megalopolitans, they having produced sufficient evidence that it belonged to their territories. Having received some vessels from the Achæans, three gallies of four, and three of two banks of oars, he sailed to Anticyra; from thence, with seven ships of five banks, and above twenty barks, which he had sent to the bay of Corinth to join the Carthaginian fleet, he proceeded to Erythræ, a town of the Ætolians near Eupalium, and there made a descent. He was not unobserved by the Ætolians; for all who were either in the fields, or in the neighbouring forts of Apollonia and Potidania, fled to the woods and mountains. The cattle, which they could not drive off in their hurry, were seized and put on board. With these, and the other booty, he sent Nicias, prætor of the Achæans, to Ægium; and, going to Corinth, he ordered his army to march by land through Bœotia, while he himself, sailing from Cenchrea, along the coast of Attica, round the promontory of Sunium, reached Chalcis, after passing almost through the middle of the enemy’s fleet. Having highly commended the fidelity and bravery of the inhabitants, in not suffering either fear or hope to influence their minds, and having exhorted them to persevere in maintaining the alliance with the same constancy, if they preferred their present situation to that of the inhabitants of Oreum and Opus, he sailed to Oreum; and having there conferred the direction of affairs, and the command of the city, on such of the chief inhabitants as had chosen to fly rather than surrender to the Romans, he sailed over from Eubœa to Demetrias, from whence he had at first set out to assist his allies. Soon after, he laid the keels of one hundred ships of war at Cassandria, collecting a great number of ship-carpenters to finish the work; and, as the seasonable assistance which he had afforded his allies in their distress, and the departure of Attalus, had restored tranquillity in the affairs of Greece, he withdrew into his Edition: current; Page: [15] own kingdom, with an intention of making war on the Dardanians.

IX. Towards the end of the summer, during which these transactions passed in Greece, Quintus Fabius, son of Maximus, who served as lieutenant-general, brought a message from Marcus Livius, the consul, to the senate at Rome, in which he gave it as his opinion, that Lucius Porcius with his legions was sufficient to secure the province of Gaul, and that he himself might depart thence, and the consular army be withdrawn. On which the senate ordered not only Marcus Livius, but his colleague also, Caius Claudius, to return to the city. In their decree, they made only this difference,—that Marcus Livius’s army be withdrawn, but that Nero’s legions remain in the province to oppose Hannibal. It had been concerted between the consuls, by letter, that as they had been of one mind in the management of affairs, so they should arrive together at one time in the city, though they were to come from different quarters; whichever came first to Præneste being directed to wait there for his colleague. It so happened that they both arrived at that town on the same day; and then, having sent forward a proclamation, requiring a full meeting of the senate in the temple of Bellona, on the third day after, they advanced towards the city, from whence the whole multitude poured out to meet them. The surrounding crowds were not satisfied with saluting them, though but at a little distance; each pressed eagerly forward to touch the victorious hands of the consuls; some congratulating, others giving them thanks for having, by their valour, procured safety to the state. In the senate, having given a recital of their exploits, according to the usual practice of commanders of armies, they demanded that, “on account of their bravery and success in the conduct of affairs, due honours might be paid to the immortal gods; and they themselves allowed to enter the city in triumph.” To which Edition: current; Page: [16] the senate answered, that “they decreed with pleasure the matters contained in their demand, as a proper return, due, first to the gods, and after the gods, to the consuls.” A thanksgiving in the name of both, and a triumph to each, had been decreed; the consuls, however, wishing that, as their sentiments had been united during the course of the war, their triumphs should not be separated, came to this agreement between themselves,—that, “inasmuch as the business had been accomplished within the province of Marcus Livius, and as, on the day whereon the battle was fought, it happened to be his turn to command, and as the army of Livius had been withdrawn, and was now at Rome, while Nero’s could not be withdrawn from the province; it should on all these accounts be ordered that Marcus Livius make his entry in a chariot, drawn by four horses, attended by the troops; Caius Claudius Nero, on horseback, without troops.” As the uniting of their triumphs in this manner enhanced the glory of both the consuls, so it reflected peculiar honour on him who condescended to appear in the procession, as much inferior to his colleague in magnificence, as he was superior to him in merit. People said, that “the commander on horseback had, in the space of six days, traversed the extent of Italy, and had fought a pitched battle with Hasdrubal in Gaul, on the very day when Hannibal imagined he was lying in his camp opposite to him in Apulia; that thus this single consul (equal to the defence of both extremities of Italy against two armies and two generals) had opposed against one, his skill; against the other, his person. That the very name of Nero had been sufficient to confine Hannibal to his camp; and as to Hasdrubal, by what other means than by the arrival of Nero had he been overwhelmed and cut off? The other consul, therefore, might proceed in his stately chariot; he was drawn, indeed, by a number of horses, but the real triumph belonged to him who had only one; and that Nero, Edition: current; Page: [17] though he should go on foot, deserved to be for ever celebrated, both for having acquired so much glory in the war, and shown so much indifference to the pompous display of it in the present procession.” With such encomiums did the spectators attend Nero through his whole progress to the Capitol. The consuls carried to the treasury three hundred thousand sesterces* in money, and eighty thousand asses† of brass; to the soldiers, Marcus Livius distributed fifty-six asses‡ each. Caius Claudius promised the same sum to his absent troops, as soon as he should return to the army. It was remarked, that the soldiers, on that day, directed more of their military songs and verses to Caius Claudius than to their own commander; that the horsemen distinguished Lucius Veturius and Quintus Cæcilius, lieutenant-generals, by extraordinary praises, exhorting the commons to appoint them consuls for the next year; and that both Livius and Nero added their authority to this recommendation, respresenting next day in the assembly the bravery and fidelity which the said lieutenant-generals had manifested in the service.

X. When the time of the elections arrived, as it had been determined that they should be held by a dictator, the consul Caius Claudius nominated his colleague Marcus Livius to that office. Livius appointed Quintus Cæcilius master of the horse. By Marcus Livius were elected consuls, Lucius Veturius and Quintus Cæcilius, who was then master of the horse. The election of prætors was next held; there were appointed Caius Servilius, Marcus Cæcilius Metellus, Tiberius Claudius Asellus, and Quintus Mamilius Turinus, at that time plebeian ædile. When the elections were finished, the dictator, having laid down his office, and dismissed his army, set out for his province of Etruria, in pursuance of a Edition: current; Page: [18] decree of the senate, in order to make inquiries, what states of the Tuscans or Umbrians had, on the approach of Hasdrubal, formed schemes of revolting to him from the Romans; or who had afforded him men, provisions, or any kind of aid. Such were the transactions of that year at home and abroad. The Roman games were thrice repeated by the curule ædiles, Cneius Servilius Cæpio and Servius Cornelius Lentulus. The plebeian games also were once repeated entire by the plebeian ædiles, Manius Pomponius Matho, and Quintus Mamilius Thurinus.Y.R.546. bc206. In the thirteenth year of the Punic war, when Lucius Veturius Philo, and Quintus Cæcilius Metellus, were consuls, they were both appointed to the province of Bruttium, to conduct the war against Hannibal. The prætors then cast lots for their provinces; the business of the city fell to Marcus Cæcilius Metellus; the jurisdiction in relation to foreigners, to Quintus Mamilius; Sicily, to Caius Servilius; and Sardinia, to Tiberius Claudius. The armies were thus distributed: to one of the consuls, that which had been under Caius Claudius, the consul of the former year; to the other, that which had been under Quintus Claudius, proprætor; they consisted each of two legions. It was decreed that Marcus Livius, proconsul, whose command had been prolonged for a year, should receive two legions of volunteer slaves from Caius Terentius, proprætor in Etruria; and that Quintus Mamilius should transfer his judicial employment to his colleague, and take the command in Gaul with the army which had belonged to Lucius Porcius, proprætor; orders at the same time being given him to lay waste the lands of the Gauls, who had revolted on the approach of Hasdrubal. The protection of Sicily was given in charge to Caius Servilius, with the two legions of Cannæ, as Caius Mamilius had held it. From Sardinia, the old army which had served under Aulus Hostilius, was brought home; and the consuls levied a new legion, which Tiberius Claudius was to carry with him. Quintus Edition: current; Page: [19] Claudius and Caius Hostilius Tubulus were continued in command for a year, that the former might hold Tarentum as his province, the latter Capua. Marcus Valerius, proconsul, who had been entrusted with the defence of the sea coasts round Sicily, was ordered to deliver thirty ships to Caius Servilius, and to return home with all the rest of the fleet.

XI. While the public was under much anxiety, on account of the great danger and importance of the war, and ever apt to refer to the gods the causes of all their successes and disappointments, accounts were propagated of a number of prodigies: that, at Tarracina, the temple of Jupiter; at Satricum, that of Mother Matuta, had been struck by lightning; the people being also greatly terrified by two snakes creeping into the former unperceived through the very door. From Antium it was reported, that ears of corn had appeared bloody to the reapers. At Cære, a pig had been littered with two heads, and a lamb yeaned which was of both sexes. It was said also, that two suns had been seen at Alba, and that light had burst forth on a sudden during the night time at Fregellæ. An ox, it was asserted, had spoken in the neighbourhood of Rome; and a profuse sweat had flowed from the altar of Neptune, in the Flaminian Circus; and also, that the temples of Ceres, Safety, and Romulus, were struck by lightning. These prodigies the consuls were ordered to expiate with the greater victims, and to perform a solemn supplication to the gods during one day; all which was strictly observed in pursuance of a decree of the senate. But what struck more terror into men’s minds than all these ominous and preternatural appearances, at home or abroad, was the extinction of the fire in the temple of Vesta, and for which the vestal who had the watch for that night was whipped to death, by order of the pontiff Publius Licinius. Although this extinction was occasioned, not by the gods directing it as a portent, but by the negligence of a human being, yet it was thought proper that it should be expiated by the greater victims, Edition: current; Page: [20] and that a supplication should be solemnized at the temple of Vesta. Before the consuls set out to the campaign, they received directions from the senate, to “take measures to make the common people return to their lands in the country, where they might now reside in safety, as, by the favour of the gods, the war had been removed to a distance from the city of Rome, and from Latium; for it was quite inconsistent to pay more attention to the cultivation of Sicily than to that of Italy.” It was, however, no easy matter to obtain a compliance with this injunction: the labourers of free condition were most of them lost in the war, slaves were scarce, the cattle had been carried off in booty, and their dwellings thrown down or burnt. Nevertheless a great number, compelled by the authority of the consuls, returned as directed. The mention of this affair had been occasioned by deputies from Placentia and Cremona, who complained that incursions were made on them by the neighbouring Gauls; that a great part of their settlers had dispersed; that their cities were thinly inhabited, and their territory waste and deserted. A charge was given to the prætor Mamilius, to protect the colonies from the enemy. The consuls, in pursuance of the decree of the senate, issued an edict, that all the citizens of Cremona and Placentia should return before a certain day to those colonies; and then, in the beginning of the spring, they set out to carry on the war. Quintus Cæcilius, consul, received his army from Caius Nero; Lucius Veturius, his from Quintus Claudius, proprætor, he filling it up with the new levies which himself had raised. They led their forces into the territory of Consentia. Here, having made great ravages, the troops, now loaded with spoil, were thrown into such confusion, in a narrow pass, by some Bruttians and Numidian spearmen, that not only that spoil, but themselves were in extreme danger. However, there was more tumult than fighting: the booty was sent forward, and the legions Edition: current; Page: [21] without loss made their way to places of safety. From thence they advanced against the Lucanians, which whole nation returned, without a contest, into subjection to the Roman people.

XII. No action took place during that year between them and Hannibal; for the Carthaginian, after the deep wound so lately given both to his own private, and to the public welfare, cautiously avoided throwing himself in their way; and the Romans did not choose to rouse him from his inactivity: such powers did they suppose that leader possessed of, in his single person, though all things round him were falling into ruin. In truth, I know not whether he was more deserving of admiration in adversity or in prosperity; considering, that, though he carried on war for thirteen years, and that in an enemy’s territory so far from home, with various success, with an army, not composed of his own countrymen, but made up of the refuse of all nations, who had neither law, nor custom, nor language in common; who were of different stature, had different garb, different arms, different rites, and almost different gods; yet he so bound them together by some common tie, that neither among themselves nor against their commander, did any sedition ever appear, although, in a hostile country, he often wanted both money to pay them, and provisions also,—wants which, in the former Punic war, had occasioned many distressful scenes between the generals and their men. But, after the destruction of Hasdrubal and his army, on whom he had reposed all his hopes of victory; and when he had given up the possession of all the rest of Italy, and withdrawn into a corner of Bruttium, must it not appear wonderful to all, that no disturbance arose in his camp? For there was this afflicting circumstance in addition to all his other difficulties, that he had no hope of being able even to procure food for his soldiers, except from the lands of Bruttium; which, if they were entirely under tillage, were too small for Edition: current; Page: [22] the support of so large an army. Besides, the war had employed a great part of the young men, and carried them away from the cultivation of the grounds; a base practice likewise prevailing through the whole nation, of making plundering excursions on every side; nor were there any remittances made him from home, where the whole attention of the public was engaged in endeavouring to keep possession of Spain, as if affairs in Italy were all in a state of prosperity. In the former, the fortune of the parties was, in one respect, the same; in another, widely different: the same so far, that the Carthaginians, being defeated in battle, and having lost their general, had been driven to the remotest coast of the country, even to the ocean; but different in this, that Spain, in the nature both of the ground and of the inhabitants, affords greater conveniences for reviving a war, not only than Italy, but than any other part of the world; and that was the reason, that although this was the first of all the provinces on the continent in which the Romans got footing, yet it was the last subdued; and that not until the present age, under the conduct and auspices of Augustus Cæsar. In this country Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, a general of the greatest abilities and character next to the Barcine family, returning now from Gades, and being encouraged to a renewal of the war by Mago, the son of Hamilcar, armed to the number of fifty thousand foot, and four thousand five hundred horse, by levies made in the Farther Spain. In the number of his cavalry authors are pretty well agreed; of the infantry, according to some, there were seventy thousand led to the city of Silpia. There the two Carthaginian generals sat down in an extensive plain, determined not to avoid a battle.

XIII. When Scipio received the account of this army being assembled, he saw plainly, that, with the Roman legions alone, he could not oppose so great a multitude; nor without using the auxiliary troops of the barbarians, at least for the Edition: current; Page: [23] purpose of making a show of strength; but that, at the same time, it was highly improper that they should compose such a proportion of his force as might enable them, by changing sides, to produce consequences of importance—an event which had caused the destruction of his father and uncle. Sending forward, therefore, Silanus to Colca, who was sovereign of twenty-eight towns, to receive from him the horse and foot which he had engaged to raise during the winter; he set out himself from Tarraco, and collecting small bodies of auxiliaries from the allies who lay near his road, proceeded to Castulo. Hither Silanus brought three thousand auxiliary foot, and five hundred horse. From thence he advanced to the city of Bæcula, his army amounting, in the whole of his countrymen and allies, horse and foot, to forty-five thousand. While they were forming their camp, Mago and Masinissa, with the whole of their cavalry, made an attack on them, and would have dispersed the workmen, had not some horsemen whom Scipio had concealed behind a hill, conveniently situated for the purpose, suddenly rushed out as they advanced to the charge. These, at the first onset, routed all who had pushed on foremost against the men employed in the fortification. The contest with the rest, who advanced on their march drawn up in regular order, was longer and for some time doubtful. But the light cohorts from the outposts, the soldiers called off from the works, and afterwards greater numbers, who were ordered to take arms, came up fresh, and engaged the wearied enemy. At the same time, a large body rushed in arms from the camp to battle. The Carthaginians and Numidians then fairly turned their backs; and though at first they retreated in troops, and without breaking their ranks, yet when the Romans fell furiously on their rear, they thought no more of order, but fled precipitately, and dispersed into such places as each found convenient. Although by this battle the spirits Edition: current; Page: [24] of the Romans were somewhat raised, and those of the enemy depressed, yet for several following days the horsemen and light troops were continually engaged in skirmishes.

XIV. After making trial of their strength in these slight engagements, Hasdrubal led his forces to the field; then the Romans marched out. Both armies stood in order of battle under their respective ramparts, neither party choosing to begin the attack; when it was near sunset, the Carthaginians first, and then the Romans, marched back into camp. They acted in the same manner for several days, the Carthaginian always drawing out his troops first, and first giving the signal of retreat, when they were fatigued with standing. Neither side advanced in the least, nor was a weapon discharged, nor a word uttered. The centre divisions of their lines were composed, on one side, of Romans; on the other, of Carthaginians and African auxiliaries: the wings were formed by the allies, who on both sides were Spaniards. In front of the Carthaginian line, the elephants at a distance appeared like castles. It was now generally said in both camps, that they were to engage in the same order in which they had stood before; and that their centres, consisting of Romans and Carthaginians, who were principals in the war, would no doubt encounter each other with equal courage and strength of arms. When Scipio understood that this opinion was firmly entertained, he took care to alter the whole plan against the day on which he intended to fight. On the preceding evening, therefore, he gave out orders through the camp, that the men and horses should be refreshed and accoutred before day; and that the horsemen, ready armed, should keep their horses bridled and saddled. Before it was clear day, he despatched all the cavalry and light infantry, with orders to charge the Carthaginian outposts; and immediately advanced himself with the heavy body of the legions, having, contrary to the expectation both of his own men and Edition: current; Page: [25] the enemy, strengthened the wings with his Roman troops, and drawn the allies into the centre. Hasdrubal was alarmed by the shout of the cavalry, and, springing out from his tent, saw a bustle before the rampart, his men in hurry and confusion, the glittering standards of the legions at a distance, and the plain filled with troops. He immediately despatched all his cavalry against that of the enemy, marching himself from out the camp with the body of infantry; but, in drawing up his line, he made no alteration in the original disposition. The contest between the horse had continued a long time doubtful, nor could they decide it by their own efforts, because, when either were repulsed, which happened to both in turn, they found a safe refuge among the infantry. But, when the armies had approached within five hundred paces of each other, Scipio, giving the signal for retreat, and opening his files, received all the cavalry and light troops through them; and, forming them in two divisions, placed them in reserve behind the wings. When he saw that it was time to begin the engagement, he ordered the Spaniards, who composed the centre, to advance with a slow pace, and sent directions from the right wing, where he commanded in person, to Silanus and Marcius, to extend their wing on the left, in the same manner as they should see him stretching on the right, and attack the enemy with the light-armed forces of horse and foot before the centres could close. The wings extending in this manner, three cohorts of foot, and three troops of horse from each, together with the light infantry, advanced briskly against the enemy, while the rest followed them in an oblique direction. There was a bending in the centre, because the battalions of Spaniards advanced slower than the wings, and the wings had already encountered, while the principal strength of the enemy’s line, the Carthaginian veterans and Africans, were still at such a distance, that they could not throw their javelins with effect, nor did they dare Edition: current; Page: [26] to make detachments to the wings, to support those who were engaged, for fear of opening the centre to the forces advancing against it. The Carthaginian wings were hard pressed, being attacked on all sides; for the horse and foot, together with the light infantry, wheeling round, fell in upon their flanks, while the cohorts pressed on them in front, in order to separate the wings from the rest of the line.

XV. The battle was now very unequal in all parts; not only because an irregular multitude of Balearians and undisciplined Spanish recruits were opposed to the Roman and Latine troops, but, as the day advanced, Hasdrubal’s troops began to grow faint, having been surprised by the alarm in the morning, and obliged to hasten out to the field before they could take food to support their strength. With a view to this, Scipio had taken care to create delay, for it was not until the seventh hour that the battalions of foot fell upon the wings, and the battle reached the centre somewhat later; so that, before the enemy began regularly to engage, they were enfeebled by the heat of the meridian sun, the labour of standing under arms, and by hunger and thirst, distressing them at once. They stood, therefore, leaning on their shields; for, in addition to their other misfortunes, the elephants, terrified at the desultory manner of fighting used by the horse and the light infantry, had thrown themselves from the wings upon the centre. Harassed thus greatly, both in body and mind, they began to give way, but still preserved their ranks, as if the whole army were retreating by order of the general. The victors, perceiving the superiority which they had gained, redoubled the fury of their assault on all sides, so that the shock could hardly be sustained. Hasdrubal, however, endeavoured to stop his men, crying out that “the hills in the rear would afford a safe refuge, if they would but retreat without hurry;” yet fear overcame their shame, and although such as were nearest the enemy still continued to fight, they Edition: current; Page: [27] quickly turned their backs, and all betook themselves to a hasty flight. They halted, however, for a time, at the foot of the hills, endeavouring to restore order, while the Romans hesitated to advance their line against the opposite steep. But, when they saw the battalions pressing forward briskly, they renewed their flight, and were driven in a panic within their works. The Romans were not far from the rampart; and, continuing their efforts, had nearly surmounted it, when such a quantity of rain poured suddenly down, that it was with difficulty they regained their camp. The sun too, had been excessively hot, as is usually the case when shining forth from among clouds surcharged with water; which added greatly to the fatigues of the day. Some were even seized with a religious scruple against attempting any thing farther at that time. Though both night and the rain invited the Carthaginians to take the repose so necessary to them, yet fear and the impending danger would not admit of it; and as they had reason to expect an assault from the enemy at the first light, they raised the height of the rampart with stones collected from the adjacent vallies, endeavouring to secure themselves by fortifications, since they found no protection in their arms. But the desertion of their allies soon gave them reason to think, that it was the safer way to fly. The beginning of this revolt arose from Attanes, prince of the Turdetans, who deserted with a great number of his countrymen; and afterwards, two fortified towns, with their garrisons, were delivered to the Romans by their commanders. Hasdrubal, dreading, since a disposition to throw off the Carthaginian yoke had once seized their minds, that the evil might spread farther, decamped during the silence of the ensuing night.

XVI. At the first light, the outguards having brought intelligence of the enemy’s departure, Scipio, sending forward the cavalry, gave orders to the army to march; and these Edition: current; Page: [28] were executed with such expedition, that, had they directly pursued the track of the fugitives, they had certainly overtaken them; but they were persuaded by their guides, that there was another and a shorter road to the river Bætis, and where, it was said, they might attack them in their passage. Hasdrubal, finding the ford in possession of the enemy, changed his course, directing it towards the ocean; his army now retreating with precipitancy, so that the Roman legions were left at some distance behind. However, the horse and the light infantry harassed and delayed them, by attacking sometimes their rear, sometimes their flanks; and as they were obliged to halt frequently, on occasion of these interruptions, and to support the attacks, at one time of the horse, at another of the infantry and auxiliary foot, they were overtaken by the legions. The consequence was, not a fight, but a carnage, as of cattle; until at length the general himself, setting the example of a flight, made his escape to the adjacent hills with about six thousand men half armed: the rest were either slain or taken prisoners. The Carthaginians hastily fortified an irregular camp on the highest part of the ground, and defended themselves there without difficulty, the enemy in vain attempting to climb so difficult an ascent. But a blockade, in a place naked and destitute, was hardly to be supported, even for a few days: desertions to the Roman, therefore, were frequent. Hasdrubal having at length procured some ships, and the sea being not far distant, left his army in the night, and fled to Gades. When Scipio was informed of the flight of the general, leaving ten thousand foot and one thousand horse with Silanus for the blockade of the camp, he returned himself with the rest of the forces to Tarraco, where he arrived after a march of seventy days; during which he was employed in examining into the conduct of the petty princes and states, in order that their rewards might be proportioned according to a just estimate of their merits. Edition: current; Page: [29] After his departure, Masinissa having held a private conference with Silanus, passed over with a few of his countrymen into Africa, in order to bring his own nation to participate in the design which he had newly formed. The cause of his sudden change was not at that time well known; but the inviolable fidelity which he ever afterwards preserved towards Rome, through the whole course of a very long life, is sufficient proof that he did not, even then, act without a reasonable motive. Mago went to Gades in the ships which had been sent back by Hasdrubal. Of the rest (thus abandoned by their generals,) some deserted, others fled and dispersed through the neighbouring states; no detachment remaining, considerable either for number or strength. These were the principal events, in consequence of which, under the conduct and auspices of Publius Scipio, the Carthaginians were compelled to relinquish all footing in Spain, in the thirteenth year from the commencement of hostilities, the fifth from Scipio’s having received the command of the province and of the army. Not long after, Silanus returned to Scipio at Tarraco, with information that the war was at an end.

XVII. Lucius Scipio was employed in conveying to Rome a great many prisoners of distinction, and in carrying the news of the reduction of Spain. While this was considered by all others as a most joyful and glorious event, he alone, by whose means it had been accomplished, insatiable in his pursuit of glory, considered it as a trifle in comparison with those designs which his aspiring mind and sanguine hopes prompted him to conceive. He now directed his views to Africa, regarding the subjugation of Carthage, in all her grandeur, as the consummation of his renown. Deeming it necessary, therefore, to conciliate the friendship of the several African kings and people, he resolved to make the first trial of Syphax, King of the Massæsylians,—a nation bordering on Mauritania, and lying opposite to that part of Spain, Edition: current; Page: [30] particularly, where New Carthage stands. There was an alliance at that time subsisting between this monarch and the Carthaginians. Supposing him, however, not more firmly attached than barbarians usually are, whose fidelity always depends on fortune, Scipio despatched Lælius to him as envoy, with proper presents. Syphax, highly delighted with these, and considering that the Romans were, at that time, every where successful, the Carthaginians unfortunate in Italy, and quite excluded from Spain, consented to embrace the friendship of the Romans, but refused to exchange the ratification of the treaty except with the Roman general in person. Lælius then returned to Scipio, having obtained from the King an engagement merely of safe conduct for him. To him, who aimed at conquests in Africa, the friendship of Syphax was, in every respect, of the utmost importance; he was the most powerful prince in that part of the world, had already opposed even the Carthaginians in war, while his dominions lay very conveniently with respect to Spain, from which they are separated by a narrow streight. Scipio thought the affair of such moment as to warrant the attempt, though attended with considerable danger; since otherwise it could not be accomplished. Leaving, therefore, for the security of Spain, Lucius Marcius at Tarraco, and Marcus Silanus at New Carthage (to which place he himself had made a hasty journey by land,) and setting sail from Carthage with Caius Lælius, in two gallies of five banks, he passed over to Africa, while the sea was so calm, that they generally used their oars, though sometimes they were assisted by a gentle breeze. It happened, that Hasdrubal, at the very same time, after having been driven out of Spain, had entered the harbour with seven gallies of three banks, and having cast anchor, was mooring his ships. On sight of these two five-banked ships, although no one doubted that they belonged to the Romans, and might be overpowered by Edition: current; Page: [31] superior numbers before they entered the harbour, yet nothing ensued except tumult and confusion among the soldiers and sailors, endeavouring to no purpose to get their arms and ships in readiness; for the quinqueremes, having their sails filled by a brisk gale from the sea, were carried into the harbour before the Carthaginians could weigh their anchors, and afterwards, they dared not to raise a disturbance in the King’s port. Having landed, therefore, they proceeded, (Hasdrubal first, then Scipio and Lælius,) on their way to the King.

XVIII. Syphax considered this as a very honourable circumstance (as it really was), that the generals of the two most powerful states of the age, should come, on the same day, to solicit peace and friendship with him. He invited them both to his palace, and as chance had so ordered that they were under the same roof, and in the protection of the same household gods, he endeavoured to bring them to a conference, for the purpose of putting an end to the enmity subsisting between them. Scipio declared, that, in his private capacity, he had not the least ill will to the Carthaginian, which might require a conference to remove it; and with regard to public affairs, he could not enter into any negociation with an enemy without orders from the senate. However, the King showing an earnest desire that he should come to the same table, so that neither of his guests might seem to be excluded, he did not refuse; and they there supped together. Scipio and Hasdrubal, perceiving that it would be agreeable to their entertainer, even reclined upon the same couch during the repast; and so pleasing were the manners of the former, such his pliability on every occasion, and such his engaging conversation, that he acquired the esteem not only of Syphax, a barbarian unacquainted with Roman habits, but even of his inveterate enemy, who, declared publicly, that “he appeared, on acquaintance, more worthy of admiration for his powers in conversation, than for his exploits in war; that he made Edition: current; Page: [32] no doubt, but Syphax and his kingdom would soon be under the direction of the Romans. Such address was that man possessed of, in acquiring an ascendancy over people’s minds, that the Carthaginians were not more intent, at present, in inquiring how Spain had been lost, than how they were to retain possession of Africa. That it was not for the sake of travelling, or in the pursuit of pleasure, that so great a general, quitting a province but lately subdued, and leaving his armies, had passed over into Africa with only two ships, entrusting himself, in an enemy’s country, to the power of the King, and to his fidelity, as yet untried. Scipio had formed the scheme of subduing their people, had long entertained this design, and had openly expressed his regret, that he was not carrying on war in Africa, as Hannibal was in Italy.” The league, however, being ratified with Syphax, Scipio set sail; and after being tossed a good deal during the voyage, by variable and generally boisterous winds, he made the harbour of New Carthage on the fourth day.

XIX. As Spain had now rest from the Carthaginian war, so it was manifest that some states remained quiet rather through fear, arising from the consciousness of misbehaviour, than through sincere attachment. The most remarkable of these, both in greatness and in guilt, were Illiturgi and Castulo. The inhabitants of Castulo, allies of the Romans while they were successful, had, on the destruction of the first Scipio’s and their armies, revolted to the Carthaginians. Those of Illiturgi, by betraying and killing such as had fled to them after that calamity, had added barbarity to revolt. To have executed severe vengeance on those states, at Scipio’s first coming, when affairs in Spain were in a precarious state, would have been more suited to their demerits than agreeable to principles of sound policy; but now, when affairs were in a state of tranquillity, the proper time for inflicting punishment seemed to have arrived. He therefore sent for Lucius Edition: current; Page: [33] Marcius from Tarraco, and despatching him with a third part of the forces to besiege Castulo, he went himself with the rest of the army against Illiturgi, where he arrived on the fifth day. The gates there had been already shut, and every precaution taken, and preparation made for repelling an attack. So far had their consciousness of what they merited served them instead of a declaration of war. Hence Scipio took occasion to represent, in an exhortation to his soldiers, that “the Spaniards themselves, by shutting their gates, had shown what, in justice, they had reason to apprehend; that they ought, therefore, to entertain a much greater animosity against them than against the Carthaginians: for, with the latter, the contest was for empire and glory, almost without resentment, but the former they were called upon to punish both for perfidy and cruelty. That the time was now come when they were to take vengeance for the horrid murder of their fellow-soldiers, and for the treachery ready to be executed on themselves also, had they happened to fly to the same place; and, by a severe example, to establish it as a maxim to all future ages, that no Roman citizen or soldier, in any state of fortune, should be injured with impunity.” Their rage being excited by this harangue, they distributed the scaling-ladders to chosen men in each company; and the army being divided into two parts, one of which Lælius, lieutenant-general, was to command, they assaulted the city in two places at once, striking terror into the assailed by the two-fold danger to which they were exposed. It was not one leader, or a number of chiefs, but their own violent apprehensions, in consequence of their guilt, that induced the inhabitants to make a vigorous defence: they were fully sensible, and they reminded each other, that “their punishment, not a victory, was the object aimed at; that the matter for present consideration was, where they should choose to meet death, whether in the field and in fight, where the chance of Edition: current; Page: [34] war, equal to both parties, often raises the vanquished, and pulls down the conqueror; or whether, after seeing their city burned and demolished, and after suffering every indignity and disgrace, they should expire among chains and stripes, in the presence of their captive wives and children.” Therefore, not only those who were of an age to bear arms, or the men alone, but women and boys added exertions beyond the strength of their minds or bodies, supplying with weapons those who were engaged in the fight, and carrying stones to the walls for others who were strengthening the works; for beside that their liberty was at stake, and by which the brave are powerfully excited, the extreme severity of punishment which they must all expect, with a disgraceful death, were before their eyes. Further, their courage was inflamed by mutual emulation in toil and danger, and even by the sight of each other. Thus animated, they opposed the enemy with such determined bravery, that the army which had subdued all Spain was often repulsed from the walls; and began, in a contest with the youth of a single town, not much to their honour, to abate of their ardour. Scipio perceiving this, and dreading lest, by these unsuccessful attempts, the courage of the enemy should be raised, and his own men dispirited, thought it necessary to exert himself in person, and take a share in the danger. Whereupon, reprimanding the troops for their want of spirit, he ordered ladders to be brought to him, threatening to mount the wall himself, since the rest were backward: and, accordingly, he had already advanced near it, and not without danger, when a shout was raised on all sides by the soldiers, alarmed at the situation of the general, and the scalade was attempted at once. Lælius, too, pressed on at the other side. The inhabitants were then no longer able to make opposition, and those who defended the walls being beaten off, the Romans took possession of them.

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XX. The citadel, too, during the tumult, being attacked on that side where it was thought impregnable, was taken. While the inhabitants were engaged in defence of those places where the danger appeared, and the Romans in making greater approaches where they found it practicable, some African deserters, who were then among the Roman auxiliaries, observed, that the most elevated part of the town, though protected by a very high rock, was neither secured by any works nor provided with men for its defence. As they were light of body, and very active from constant exercise, carrying iron spears along with them, they climbed up, by means of the irregular prominences of the rock, and when they met with a cliff too high and smooth, by driving in the spikes at moderate distances, they formed a kind of steps. In this manner, the foremost drawing up by the hand those who followed, and the hindmost lifting up those before them, they made their way to the summit: and from thence, with loud shouts, poured down into the city, which had been already taken by the Romans. Then it plainly appeared, that resentment and hatred had been the motives of the assault: no one thought of taking prisoners, no one thought of booty, though the objects lay before their eyes. The armed and unarmed were slain without distinction, women and men promiscuously; the cruel rage of the soldiers proceeded even to slaying of infants. They then set fire to the houses, and what could not be thus destroyed, they levelled to the ground; so earnest were they to erase every trace of the city, and to abolish every mark of the enemy’s residence. Scipio from thence led his army to Castulo, which was defended by a great concourse of Spaniards, and also by the remains of the Carthaginian army, collected from the places whither they had dispersed in their flight. But the news of the calamities of the Illiturgians had preceded the arrival of Scipio, and thrown the garrison into fright and despair; and as they were differently Edition: current; Page: [36] circumstanced, while each party wished to provide for their own safety, without regard to the rest, at first silent suspicion, afterwards open discord, ensued, and caused a separation between the Carthaginians and Spaniards. Cerdubellus openly advised the latter to surrender. Himilco commanded the Carthaginian garrison auxiliaries, who, together with the city, were delivered up to the Romans by Cerdubellus, after he had privately made terms for himself. This victory was not followed with so much severity; the guilt of this people not having been so great as that of the former, and their voluntary surrender mitigating, in some degree, the resentment against them.

XXI. Marcius proceeded from thence, in order to reduce to obedience such of the barbarians as had not been completely subdued. Scipio returned to New Carthage, in order to pay his vows to the gods, and to exhibit a show of gladiators, which he had prepared in commemoration of the death of his father and uncle. The combatants exhibited on this occasion were not of that sort which the Lanistæ are wont to procure, a collection of slaves, or such free men as are base enough to set their blood to sale. Every champion here gave his service voluntarily, and without reward; for some were sent by the princes of the country, to show a specimen of the bravery natural to their nation; some declared that they would fight to oblige the general; some were led by emulation, and a desire of superiority to send challenges; and those who were challenged, from the same motive, did not decline them; some decided, by the sword, controversies which they could not, or would not, determine by arbitration, having agreed between themselves that the matter in dispute should be the property of the conqueror. Not only people of obscure condition, but men of character and distinction; Corbis and Orsua for instance, cousin-germans, having a dispute about the sovereignty of a city called Ibis, Edition: current; Page: [37] determined to decide it with the sword. Corbis had the advantage in regard to years. The father of Orsua, however, had been last on the throne, having succeeded to it on the death of his elder brother. Scipio endeavoured to accommodate the matter by calm discussion, and to assuage their resentment; but they both affirmed that they had refused to submit it to their common relations, and that they would have no other judge, either god or man, but Mars. They severally preferred death in fight to a submission to the other’s authority, the elder confident in his strength, the younger in his activity; and so determined was their rage, that it was impossible to reconcile them. They afforded an extraordinary spectacle to the army, and a striking example of the evils occasioned by ambition. The elder, by experience in arms and superior skill, easily vanquished the ill-managed valour of the younger. To this exhibition of gladiators were added funeral games, conducted with as much magnificence as the province and the camp could supply.

XXII. While Scipio was thus employed, operations were carried on by his lieutenant Marcius, who, having passed the river Bætis, which the natives call Certis, got possession of two wealthy cities, by surrender, without a contest. There was another called Astapa, which had always taken part with the Carthaginians; but that circumstance did not so much call for resentment, as from their having acted towards the Romans with an extraordinary degree of animosity, beyond what the exigencies of the war could warrant. This was the more surprising, as they had no city so secured, either by situation or fortification, as that it might encourage such fierceness of temper; but the disposition of the inhabitants delighting in plunder, led them to make incursions into the neighbouring lands belonging to the allies of the Roman people, and even to seize on small parties of soldiers, together with the sutlers and traders. A large detachment, also, Edition: current; Page: [38] which was attempting to pass through their territory, was surrounded by an ambuscade, and put to death in a place where they could not defend themselves. As soon as the army approached to besiege the city, the inhabitants, conscious of their crimes, saw no prospect of safety in surrendering to a people so highly provoked; and as their fortifications were in such a state that they could not greatly hope to defend themselves by arms, they contrived a plan of the most shocking and savage nature, which they agreed to execute on themselves and their families. They fixed on a part of the Forum, into which they brought together all their most valuable effects, and having made their wives and children seat themselves on this heap, they piled up timber all round it, and threw on it abundance of faggots. They then gave a charge to fifty young men in arms, that “as long as the issue of the fight should be uncertain, they should carefully guard in that spot the fortunes of all, and the persons of those who were dearer to them than their fortunes. Should they perceive that their friends were worsted, and that the city was likely to be taken, that then they might be assured, that every one whom they saw going out to battle would meet death in the engagement. They then besought them, by the deities celestial and infernal, that mindful of their liberty, which must terminate on that day either in an honourable death or disgraceful slavery, they would leave no object on which the enraged enemy could vent their fury. That they had fire and swords at their command; and that it were better that their friendly and faithful hands should consume those things which must necessarily perish, than that the foe should insult over them with haughty scorn.” To these exhortations they added dreadful imprecations against any one who should be diverted from their purpose, either by hope or tenderness; and then with rapid speed and violent impetuosity, they rushed out through the open gates. There was none of the Edition: current; Page: [39] outposts strong enough to withstand them, because nothing could have been less apprehended than that they should dare to come out of the fortifications; a very few troops of horse, and the light infantry, despatched in haste from the camp, threw themselves in their way. The encounter was furious, owing more to their impetuosity and resolution, than to any regular disposition. The horse, therefore, which had first engaged, being discomfited, communicated the terror to the light infantry; and the battle would have reached to the very rampart, had not the main body of the legions drawn out their line, though there was very little time allowed them for forming. Even among their battalions there was some confusion; while the Astapans, blinded with fury, rushed on against men and weapons with the most daring insensibility of danger. But in a short time the veteran soldiers, too steady to be disturbed by such rash attacks, by killing the foremost, stopped the advance of the next. Afterwards, when they endeavoured to gain upon them, finding that not a man gave way, but that they were obstinately determined to die, they extended their line, which their numbers enabled them to do with ease; they then surrounded the flanks of these desperates, who, forming into a circle, and continuing the fight, were slain to a man.

XXIII. This severity, executed by an enraged enemy on those who opposed them in arms, especially as they were at the time engaged in hostilities with another people, was not inconsistent with the laws of war. But the more shocking havock was in the city, where a weak unarmed crowd of women and children were assailed by their own countrymen, who tossed their almost lifeless bodies on the burning pile, while streams of blood kept down the rising flames, and who at last, wearied with the wretched slaughter of their friends, cast themselves with their arms into the midst of the fire. Just as the carnage was completed, the victorious Romans Edition: current; Page: [40] arrived. On the first sight of such a horrid transaction, they were for a time struck motionless with astonishment; but afterwards, on seeing the gold and silver glittering between the heaps of other matters, with the greediness natural to mankind, they wished to snatch them out of the burning heap. In attempting this, some were caught by the flames, others scorched by blasts of the heat, the foremost finding it impracticable to make a retreat against the press of so great a crowd. Thus was Astapa utterly destroyed by fire and sword, and without enriching the soldiers with booty. All the other inhabitants of that district, terrified at this event, made their submissions. Marcius led back his victorious army to join Scipio at Carthage. Just at the same time, some deserters arrived from Gades, who promised to deliver up the city, the Carthaginian garrison, and the commander of the garrison, together with the fleet. Mago had halted there after his flight; and having collected a few ships from the ocean adjoining, and, with the assistance of Hanno his lieutenant, assembled others from the nearest parts of Spain, had brought some supplies from the coast of Africa. Terms being adjusted with the deserters, and ratified on both sides, Marcius was despatched thither, with some cohorts equipped for expedition, and Lælius also, with seven three-banked and one five-banked galley, that they might act in concert both by land and sea, in the execution of the business.

XXIV. Scipio was seized with a severe fit of sickness; and the danger being magnified by report, (every one, through the natural propensity to exaggeration, adding something to what he had heard,) the whole province, more especially the distant parts of it, were thrown into disorder: which showed what important consequences must have attended the real loss of him, when the rumour of his illness alone could excite such storms. Neither the allies continued faithful, nor the army obedient to command. Mandonius and Indibilis, Edition: current; Page: [41] who had entertained confident expectations that, on the expulsion of the Carthaginians, the dominion of Spain would fall into their hands, being entirely disappointed in all their hopes, called together their countrymen of Laceta and Illiturgi; sent for the young men of Celtiberia to assist them, and carried hostilities and devastation into the territories of the Suessetanians and Sedetanians, allies of the Roman people. Another commotion arose in the camp at Sucro, where there were eight thousand Romans stationed to secure the obedience of the nations bordering on the Iberus. Their disposition to mutiny did not take its rise from the uncertain accounts of the general’s life being in danger; it had sprung up some time before, from the licentiousness incident to a long state of inaction, and partly from their circumstances being straitened during peace, having been accustomed during the war to live more plentifully on plunder. At first, they only expressed their dissatisfaction in private discourses; “if there was a war in the province, what business had they there, among people who were at peace? If the war was already ended, why were they not carried back to Italy?” They also demanded their pay with a peremptoriness unbecoming the condition of soldiers, while those on guard used to throw out abuse on the tribunes, as they went their nightly rounds. Favoured by the darkness, some had even gone out and plundered the peaceable country round: and at length they used to quit their standards without leave, openly, and in the day-time. In a word, every thing was directed by the licentious humour of the soldiery, nothing by the rules and discipline of war, or the commands of the officers. The form, however, of a Roman camp was preserved, merely on account of the hope which they entertained, that the tribunes would be infected with their madness, and become sharers in their mutiny and revolt. They therefore permitted them to hold their courts at the tribunals; they applied to them Edition: current; Page: [42] for the watchword, and mounted guards and watches in their turn; and as they had taken away all the power of command, so, by submitting from choice to the usual duties, they kept up the appearance of obedience to orders. But when they found that the tribunes disapproved and blamed their proceedings, that they endeavoured to put a stop to them, and openly refused to assist in their designs, the mutiny then burst out; and having, by violence, driven the tribunals from their stands, and soon after, from the camp, with the unanimous approbation of the whole body they bestowed the supreme command on Caius Albius of Cales, and Caius Atrius of Umbria, common soldiers, who were the principal movers of the sedition. These men, not satisfied with the ornaments used by tribunes, had the assurance to lay hold of the badges of supreme command, the rods and axes; never considering that their own backs and necks were in danger from those very rods and axes, which they carried before them to strike terror into others. Their groundless belief of Scipio’s death blinded their understandings; and they entertained not a doubt that, on the news of that event, which would soon be generally known, the flames of war would break out in every part of Spain: that during this confusion money might be exacted from the allies, and the neighbouring cities plundered; and that the disturbances being general, and all men acting without restraint, their own behaviour would be the less liable to observation.

XXV. No accounts of the death of Scipio being received, the rumour which had been inconsiderately propagated, began to die away. They then began to enquire for the first authors of it; but every one threw it off from himself, that he might appear rather to have believed rashly, than to have been the contriver of the fiction. The leaders, now forsaken, began to dread even their own badges of office, and considered with terror the real and just authority which was about Edition: current; Page: [43] to take place of the empty show of command which they possessed, and which would doubtless be exerted to their destruction. While the mutiny was at a stand through the amazement of the soldiers, on receiving undoubted intelligence, first that Scipio was alive, and afterwards that he was in good health, seven military tribunes, despatched by himself, arrived in the camp. On their coming, the mutineers were at first exasperated, but they were soon softened by the mild and soothing language in which these addressed such of their acquaintances as they met. For, at first going round the tents, and then in the public tribunals, and in the prætorium, wherever they observed circles of soldiers engaged in conversation, they accosted them in such a manner, as carried the appearance rather of an enquiry into the cause of their resentment and sudden disorder, than of throwing any blame on what had passed. The reasons generally alleged were, that “they had not received their pay regularly; although at the time of the horrid transaction at Illiturgi, and after the utter destruction of the two generals and their two armies, it was by their bravery that the Roman name had been supported, and the province secured. That the people of Illiturgi had indeed met with the punishment due to their guilt, but their meritorious conduct had remained unrewarded.” The tribunes answered, that “in these remonstrances their requests were founded in justice, and should be laid before the general; that they were highly pleased to find that there was nothing in their case more grievous or incurable; and that, by the favour of the gods, they had both Publius Scipio and the state to reward their merit.” Scipio, well practised in wars, but utterly unacquainted with the storms of intestine commotions, was filled with anxiety on the occasion; fearing lest the army should exceed all bounds in transgressing, or himself in punishing. For the present, he resolved to proceed as he had begun, by gentle measures; having, Edition: current; Page: [44] therefore, despatched collectors through the tributary states, he received reason to hope to be soon able to discharge the arrears. An order was then published, that the troops should come to Carthage to receive their pay, either in separate divisions or in one body, as they should choose. The mutiny, of itself abating in violence among the Romans, was reduced to a state of perfect tranquillity by the measures which the rebellious Spaniards suddenly adopted. Mandonius and Indibilis, on receiving information that Scipio was alive, desisted from their undertaking, and returned into their own country, as there was now remaining neither countrymen nor foreigner, to whom they could look up for a concurrence in their desperate scheme. The soldiers, after revolving every plan, were of opinion that they had nothing left, except (what is not always the safest retreat from bad counsels) the submitting themselves either to the just anger of the general, or to his clemency, of which it was thought they need not despair. “He had pardoned even enemies, with whom he had been engaged in battle: their mutiny had not been attended with any serious consequences; no lives had been lost, nor had any blood been shed: therefore, as it had not in itself been violent, it merited not a violent punishment.” Men’s minds are generally ingenious in palliating guilt in themselves. They only hesitated then, whether they should go and demand their pay in single cohorts, or in a body. The majority voted, that, as the safer way, they should proceed in a body.

XXVI. Whilst they were employed in these deliberations, a council was held at Carthage concerning them; the members of which were divided in opinion, whether the authors only of the mutiny, who were not more than thirty-five, should be punished; or whether it was not necessary, that what ought to be called a revolt rather than a mutiny, and afforded such a dangerous example, should be expiated by Edition: current; Page: [45] the punishment of a greater number. The milder opinion prevailed, that the punishment should be confined to those who were the instigators to it, and that, for the multitude, a reprimand was sufficient. As soon as the council was dismissed, orders were issued to the army which was in Cartharge, to prepare for an expedition against Mandonius and Indibilis, and to get ready provisions for several days; in order that people might think that this had been the business of the meeting. Then, the seven tribunes, who had before gone to Sucro to quell the disturbance, were again sent out to gather further information on the matter, when each of them made a return of five names of the leaders of it; with the intent that proper persons, appointed for the purpose, should invite these, with friendly countenance and discourse, to their lodgings, and that there, when stupified with wine, they might be secured in chains. When they came near Carthage, they heard, from some persons on the road, that the whole army was to set out, next day, with Marcus Silanus, against the Lacetanians, which not only freed the disaffected from the apprehensions which, though concealed, lay heavy on their minds, but occasioned great joy amongst them; as they supposed that the general would be left alone, in their power, instead of their being in his. A little before sunset, they entered the city, and saw the other army busy in preparations for a march: they were received with discourses framed for the purpose, that “their coming was highly agreeable and convenient to the general, as it had happened just before the departure of the other army;” after which they retired to refresh themselves. The authors of the mutiny, having been conducted to lodgings by the persons appointed, were, without any tumult, apprehended by the tribunes, and thrown into chains. At the fourth watch, the baggage of that army which, as pretended, was to march, began to set out. A little before day the troops moved also, Edition: current; Page: [46] but stopped in a body at the gate, whence guards were sent round to all the other avenues, to prevent any one going out of the city. Those who had arrived the day before, were then summoned to an assembly, and they ran together into the Forum to the general’s tribunal in the most turbulent manner, intending to excite terror by their tumultuous shouts. Just as the general was taking his seat, the troops, who had been recalled from the gates, spread themselves round, under arms, behind the unarmed assembly. On this, all the arrogance of the latter sunk at once, and, as they afterwards confessed, nothing terrified them so much as the unexpected vigour and complexion of the general, whom they had expected to see in a sickly state—his countenance showing more sternness, they said, than they had ever remembered to have seen, even in battle. He sat silent for a short time, until he was told that the authors of the mutiny were brought into the Forum, and that all things were prepared.

XXVII. Then, a herald having commanded silence, he began thus: “Never did I imagine that I should be in want of language to address my own army: not that I ever gave more attention to words than to business; for, having lived in camps almost from my childhood, I was ever well acquainted with the soldier’s way of thinking. But, with what sentiments, or in what terms, I should speak to you, I am entirely at a loss. I know not even what appellation I ought to give you. Can I call you countrymen, who have revolted from your country; or soldiers, who have renounced obedience to command, and broke through the obligation of your oath; or enemies? I behold, indeed, the persons, faces, habit, mien of my fellow-citizens; but I perceive the actions, words, schemes, dispositions of foes. For what other object did your hopes and wishes aim at, than the same which was proposed by the Illergetians and Lacetans? They, however, chose for leaders in their mad enterprise, Mandonius and Indibilis, Edition: current; Page: [47] men of royal distinction; you conferred supreme authority and command on the Umbrian, Atrius, and the Calenian, Albus. Soldiers, deny that it was the act of you all, or that you all approved of it: assert that it was the madness and folly of a few. I shall willingly give credit to your disavowal; for the crimes committed are of such a nature, that did the guilt of them extend to the whole army, it could not be expiated without very extraordinary atonements. I unwillingly touch those matters, as I should wounds; but unless such are touched and handled, they cannot be cured. After the Carthaginians were expelled from Spain, I really believed that there was not, in the whole province, any one place, or any description of men, to whom my life was not a matter of concern: such had been my conduct, not only towards the allies, but even towards the enemy. And yet, even in my own camp, so much was I deceived in my opinion, the report of my death was not only readily believed, but longed for. Not that I wish this behaviour should be imputed to you all: I assure you, if I could believe that my whole army wished my death, I would here, this instant, die before your eyes; nor could life afford me any pleasure if it were displeasing to my countrymen and soldiers. But every multitude, like the sea, is incapable of moving itself; the winds and gales put it in motion: thus, when either calms or storms appear in you, all the madness lies in the first advisers. This you have caught by infection: and even this day, you do not seem to me to be sensible to what a pitch of folly you have proceeded, or how heinous your attempts have been with respect to me, how heinous with respect to your country, your parents and your children; how heinous with respect to the gods, who were witnesses of your oath; how heinous against the auspices under which you serve; how heinous against the practice of the service, the discipline of your ancestors, and the majesty of the supreme authority and rule! With Edition: current; Page: [48] regard to myself, I say nothing. Be it, that ye believed the report rather through want of thought, than through a wish that it should be true; and let me even be supposed such a person, that it were no wonder if the army were weary of my command: yet, what had your country deserved of you, that, by uniting your counsels with Mandonius and Indibilis, you were going to betray it? What had the Roman people merited, when you took away the power from tribunes appointed by their common suffrage, and conferred it on private men? when, not even content with having them for magistrates, you, a Roman army, bestowed the badges of your generals on men who never had been possessed of so much as a single slave? Albius and Atrius dwelt in the general’s pavilion, the trumpets sounded by their orders, the word was taken from them, they sat on the tribunal of Publius Scipio, they were attended by lictors, the way was cleared for them, the rods and axes were carried before them. That it should rain stones, that lightnings should be darted from heaven, and that animals should produce monstrous births, you look upon as prodigies. This is a prodigy that can be expiated by no victims, by no supplications, without the blood of those who dared to commit such enormous crimes.

XXVIII. “Now, although no wickedness proceeds on any grounds of reason, yet, in a transaction of such atrocity as this, I should be glad to know what was your intention, what your scheme. Formerly, a legion, which had been sent as a garrison to Rhegium, wickedly put to death the principal inhabitants, and kept possession of that opulent city for ten years; for which offence the whole legion, four thousand men, were beheaded in the Forum at Rome. These, however, did not put themselves under the command of an Atrius, a man no better than a scullion, whose very name was ominous; but of Decius Jubellius, a military tribune: nor did they join themselves to the enemies of the Roman people, either to the Edition: current; Page: [49] Samnites or Lucanians. You united in counsels with Mandonius and Indibilis, with whom you intended to have united also your arms. Besides, those men expected to hold Rhegium as a lasting settlement, as the Campanians held Capua, after taking it from the ancient Tuscan inhabitants; and as the Mamertines held Messana in Sicily,—never entertaining a thought of making war on the Roman people or their allies. Did you intend to settle your habitations at Sucro? a place in which, if I your general at my departure, after finishing the business of the province, had left you, and there to remain, you ought to have appealed to gods and men, on not being allowed to return to your wives and children. But supposing that you had banished out of your minds all recollection of them, as you did of your country and of me, let us examine what could be your design, and whether it can be accounted for on the supposition of a depravity of principle, without including also the utmost degree of folly. While I was alive, and the other part of the army safe, with which I took Carthage in one day, with which I vanquished, put to flight, and drove out of Spain, four generals, with four armies of the Carthaginians; could you expect that you, who were but eight thousand men, (all of you of course inferior in worth to Albius and Atrius, since to their command you submitted yourselves,)—could you imagine, I say, that you should be able to wrest the province of Spain out of the hands of the Roman people? I lay no stress upon my own name, I put it out of the question, supposing myself no farther ill treated, than in your easily and joyfully giving credit to the report of my death: What! if I were dead; was the state to expire along with me; was the empire of the Roman people to fall with Scipio? Jove, supremely great and good, forbid that the city built for eternity, under the favour and direction of the gods, should last no longer than this frail and mortal body. Although so many illustrious commanders, Flaminius, Paullus, Edition: current; Page: [50] Gracchus, Posthumius, Albinus, Marcus Marcellus, Titus Quintus Crispinus, Cneius Fulvius, my relations the Scipios, have all been lost in one war, yet the Roman people still survive, and will survive, whilst a thousand others perish, some by the sword, some by disease: and must the Roman state have been carried out to burial along with my single body? You yourselves, here in Spain, when my father and uncle, your two generals, were slain, chose Septimus Marcius your leader against the Carthaginians, exulting in their late victory. I mention this as if Spain would have been without a leader; but would Marcus Silanus, who was sent into the province, invested with the same privileges, the same command with myself; would my brother Lucius Scipio, and Caius Lælius, lieutenant-generals, be wanting to avenge the majesty of the empire? Could either the armies, or the leaders, or their dignity, or their cause, admit of a comparison? And even if you were superior to all these, would you bear arms on the side of the Carthaginians, against your country, against your countrymen? Would you wish that Africa should rule over Italy. Carthage over the city of Rome? And for what fault, I would ask, of your nation?

XXIX. “Coriolanus, provoked by a grievous and undeserved banishment to take up arms against his oppressors, yielded, however, to the call of duty to a parent, and refrained from committing parricide on his country. What grief, what anger had incited you? Was the delay of your pay for a few days, and while your general was sick, sufficient reason for declaring war against your native land? to revolt from the Roman people to the Illergetians? to leave no obligation, divine or human, unviolated? Soldiers, the truth is, you have been mad; nor was the disorder which seized my body more violent than that which seized your minds. It shocks me to mention what such men believed, what they hoped, what they wished. But let all those matters be buried Edition: current; Page: [51] in oblivion, if possible; if not, let them however be covered in silence. I doubt not but my language may appear to you severe and harsh; yet how much more harsh your actions than my words! Do you think it reasonable, that I should bear the facts which you have committed, and that you should not have patience to hear them mentioned? But even with these things you shall be reproached no farther: I wish you may as easily forget them as I shall. Therefore, as to what concerns you all in general, if you are sorry for your error, I am fully satisfied with the expiation. The Calenian, Albius, the Umbrian, Atrius, and the other authors of that abominable mutiny, shall atone with their blood for the crime of which they have been guilty; and if you have recovered your sound judgment, the sight of their punishment will not only be not disagreeable, but even pleasing to you, for the tendency of their schemes was as pernicious and destructive to yourselves as to any other persons whatsoever.” Scarcely had he finished his speech, when, according to a plan preconcerted, their eyes and ears were at once assailed by every object of terror. The troops, which had formed a circle round the assembly, clashed their swords against their shields; the herald’s voice was heard citing by name those who had been condemned in the council: they were dragged naked into the midst, and at the same time, all the apparatus for death was produced; they were chained to the stake, beaten with rods, and beheaded; the spectators all the while standing so benumbed with fear, that not only no violent expression against the severity of the punishment, but not even a groan, was heard. They were then all dragged out, the place was cleared, and their fellows being summoned by their names, took the oath of obedience to Scipio before the tribunes of the soldiers, as the same time receiving their pay. Such was the end and issue of the rising which began at Sucro.

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XXX. About the same time Hanno, Mago’s lieutenant, having been sent from Gades with a small body of Africans, had, by tempting the Spaniards with money, collected four thousand young men in arms, near the river Bætis: but being afterwards beaten out of his camp by Lucius Marcius, and having lost the greatest part of his forces in the tumult, and others also in the flight, (his disordered troops having been pursued by the cavalry,) he made his escape with very few attendants. During these transactions on the Bætis, Lælius, sailing through the streight, came with the fleet to Carteja, a city situated on the coast, and where the sea begins to expand itself. There had been hopes of gaining possession of Gades without a contest, by means of a conspiracy of the inhabitants, some of whom came of their own accord to the Roman camp with promises to that effect, as has been mentioned before; but the plot was discovered before it was ripe; and Mago having seized all the conspirators, gave them in charge to Adherbal, the prætor, to be conducted to Carthage. Adherbal put them on board a ship of five banks, and sending it off before him, because it sailed slower than any one of three banks, followed himself at a small distance with eight three-banked vessels. The quinquereme was just entering the streight, when Lælius, who had sailed in a quinquereme also from the harbour of Carteja, attended by seven triremes, bore down on Adherbal and the triremes; taking for granted that the quinquereme, once caught in the rapid current of the narrow pass, would not be able to tack about. The Carthaginian, alarmed by this unexpected affair, hesitated for some time whether he should follow the quinquereme, or face the enemy. This delay put it out of his power to avoid an engagement, for they were already within a weapon’s cast, and the Roman pressing him closely on all sides. The force of the stream, too, had rendered it impossible to manage their ships; nor was the fight like a naval engagement, for nothing Edition: current; Page: [53] was effected either by skill or prudence. The tide, indeed, might be said to have the entire command, for it bore them down, sometimes on their own, sometimes on the Roman vessels, while they were endeavouring in vain to row in a contrary direction; so that a ship which was flying might be seen whirled round by an eddy, and carried full against the conqueror; while another, engaged in pursuit, if it happened to fall into a contrary current, would be turned about as if for flight. Thus one ship aiming a violent stroke of its beak against the hull of the enemy, being carried itself in an oblique direction, received a blow from the beak of that it had strove to pierce; while that which lay with its side exposed to the assailant, was suddenly whirled round, so as to present its prow to them. While the battle between the triremes was thus doubtful and irregular, being governed entirely by chance, the Roman quinquereme, more manageable, either from being steadier on account of its great weight, or from making its way through the eddies by its superior number of rowers, sunk two triremes, and brushing along close by a third, swept off the oars on one side, handling roughly some others which it had overtaken: but Adherbal crowded sail, and with the five remaining ships escaped to Africa.

XXXI. Lælius returning victorious to Carteja, and having learned there what had passed at Gades, (that the plot had been discovered, the conspirators sent to Carthage, and the hopes which had invited them thither entirely frustrated,) he sent to acquaint Lucius Marcius, that he was of opinion that they ought to return to the general, unless they chose to waste time to no purpose lying before Gades. Marcius assenting, they both returned to Carthage a few days after. By their departure, Mago not only gained a respite from the dangers which had environed him both by sea and land, but on hearing of the rebellion of the Illergetians, he even conceived hopes of recovering Spain. He sent messengers to the senate Edition: current; Page: [54] at Carthage, with instructions to exaggerate both the intestine dissension in the Roman camp, and the defection of the allies; and to exhort them to send such supplies as should enable him to recover the empire of Spain, which had been transmitted to them by their ancestors. Mandonius and Indibilis, returning into their own territories, kept themselves quiet for some time, not knowing what to determine, until they could learn what measures were taken with regard to the mutiny; for if pardon were granted by Scipio to his countrymen, they did not doubt but that it would extend to themselves. But when the punishment of the offenders came to be known, supposing that their own crime would be thought to demand an equal atonement, they called their countrymen to arms, and re-assembling the auxiliaries which had joined them before, they marched out with twenty thousand foot and two thousand five hundred horse, into the territory of Sedeta, where, at the beginning of the revolt, they had established a camp.

XXXII. Scipio quickly conciliated the affections of his men by his punctuality in discharging all arrears, to the guilty as well as to the innocent, and which was strengthened by the mildness of his discourse, and the benignity of his countenance towards all without distinction. Summoning an assembly on his departure from Carthage, after copious invectives against the perfidy of the petty princes then in rebellion, he declared, that “he was setting out to take vengeance for their crimes, with feelings very different from those which he had lately experienced, while he was applying a remedy to the error of his countrymen; that then he had, with grief and tears, as if cutting his own bowels, expiated either the imprudence or the guilt of eight thousand men by the death of thirty; but now he was proceeding with cheerfulness and confidence to the destruction of the Illergetians: for these were neither born in the same land, nor connected with him Edition: current; Page: [55] by any bond of society; and for the only connection which had subsisted, that of good faith and friendship, they had wickedly rent it asunder. That there was one circumstance respecting his army, which gave him great satisfaction, which was, their being all either of his own country, allies, or of the Latine confederacy; that there was scarcely a single soldier in it who had not been brought thither from Italy, either by his uncle, Cneius Scipio, the first of the Roman name who entered that province, or by his father in his consulate, or by himself. That they were all accustomed to the name and authority of the Scipios: that he wished to carry them home with him to a well-deserved triumph; and that he entertained confident hopes that they would support his claim to the consulship, as if they were, every one of them, to share the honour of it. That as to the expedition before them, that man must have forgotten his own exploits, who could consider it as a war. For his part, he was really more concerned about Mago, who had fled with a few ships, beyond the limits of the world, into a spot surrounded by the ocean, than about the Illergetians; for on that spot, there was a Carthaginian general; and whatever forces might be there, they were Carthaginians. Here was only a band of robbers, and leaders of robbers; who, though they might have courage sufficient for ravaging their neighbours’ grounds, burning their houses, and seizing their cattle, would show none in the field, or in regular battle; and who, whenever they should see an enemy, would rely more on their activity for flight, than on their arms. It was not, therefore, because he apprehended any danger from thence, that he had determined to suppress the Illergetians before he left the province, but principally that such a heinous revolt should not escape without punishment: and, also, that it might not be said, that there was one enemy left in a country which had been overrun with such bravery and success. He desired them, therefore, Edition: current; Page: [56] with the favour of the gods, to follow him, not to what could properly be called a war, for the contest was not with a people on an equality with them, but to inflict punishment on a set of criminals.”

XXXIII. After this discourse he dismissed them, with orders to prepare for a decampment on the following morning. After a march of ten days, he arrived at the river Iberus, which he passed, and on the fourth day he pitched his camp within sight of the enemy. There was a plain before him, encircled by mountains; into this valley Scipio ordered some cattle, taken mostly from the surrounding lands, to be driven forward, in order to provoke the savage greediness of the barbarians; sending with them some light-armed troops as a guard, and giving orders to Lælius, that as soon as these should be engaged in skirmishing, he should charge with the cavalry from a place of concealment. A conveniently projecting mountain covered the ambush of the cavalry, and the battle began without delay; for the Spaniards rushed on the cattle, as soon as they saw them at a distance, and the light infantry attacked them, occupied with their booty. At first, they endeavoured to terrify each other with missive weapons; afterwards, having discharged their light darts, which were fitter to provoke than to decide the fight, they drew their swords, and began to engage foot to foot. The contest between the infantry was doubtful; but the cavalry came up, who, charging straight forward, not only trod down all before them, but some also, wheeling round along the foot of the steep, fell on the enemy’s rear, inclosing the greater part of them: so that the number slain was far more considerable than is usual in such kind of engagements. This discomfiture served rather to inflame the rage of the barbarians than depress them. In order, therefore, to show that they were not dispirited, at the first light on the day following, they led out their troops to battle. The valley being narrow, Edition: current; Page: [57] as has been mentioned, could not contain all their forces; so that only about two-thirds of the infantry and all their cavalry came down to the engagement. The remainder of the foot they posted on a hill on one side. Scipio, judging that the narrowness of the ground was a favourable circumstance to him, both because fighting in a confined space seemed better suited to the Roman than the Spanish soldier, and also because the enemy could not completely form their line, turned his thoughts to a new scheme. Finding that he could not extend his cavalry on the wings, and that those of the enemy, whom they had brought out with the infantry, would be useless, he ordered Lælius to lead the cavalry round the hills by the most concealed roads, and to keep separate as much as possible the fight of the cavalry from that between the infantry. He himself led forward the battalions of infantry, placing four cohorts in front, for he could not greatly extend his line, and without delay began the engagement, in order to divert the enemy’s attention, by the hurry of the conflict, from Lælius’s detachment, who were advancing from among the hills. In this they succeeded, for the Spaniards were unconscious of their coming, until they heard the tumult of the fight between them and their own cavalry on the rear. Thus there were two different battles; two lines of foot, and two bodies of horse, were engaged along the extent of the plain, the circumscribed ground not allowing them to be composed of both together. On the side of the Spaniards, as neither their foot could assist the horse, nor the horse the foot, the latter, who had rashly ventured into the plain, relying on the support of their cavalry, were cut to pieces; and the cavalry, being surrounded, could neither withstand the Roman infantry in front, (for by this time their own was entirely cut off,) nor the cavalry on their rear; but, having formed in a circle, and defended themselves a long time without changing their position, they were all slain to a Edition: current; Page: [58] man. Thus, not one of those who were engaged in the valley, either horse or foot, survived the fight. The third company, which had stood on the hill, rather to view the engagement securely, than to take any part in it, had both room and time to make their escape. The two princes also fled with them during the tumult, and before the army was entirely surrounded.

XXXIV. The same day, the camp of the Spaniards was taken, together with about three thousand men, beside other booty. Of the Romans and their allies, there fell one thousand two hundred; above three thousand were wounded. The victory would have been less bloody, if the battle had happened in a more extensive plain, so as to have allowed the enemy an easy flight. Indibilis, renouncing his project of proceeding farther in the war, and seeing no better prospect of safety in this desperate state of his affairs than in the honour and clemency of Scipio, which he had already experienced, sent his brother Mandonius to him; who, prostrating himself at his feet, lamented “the fatal frenzy of the times, wherein, as it were, through some pestilent contagion, not only the Illergetians and Lacetanians, but even the Roman camp had been infected: that the present state of himself, his brother, and the rest of his countrymen, was such, that, if it was required, they would surrender up to Scipio the life which he had spared to them; or, if they might be still preserved, they would ever devote it to his service; for in such case they should be actually twice indebted to him alone for existence. That, in the former case, they had confidence in their cause, before they had made trial of his clemency; but now, on the contrary, they could have none in their cause, and their only hope lay in the mercy of their conqueror.” It was the practice of the Romans, observed from very early times with respect to persons with whom they had formed no treaty of friendship or alliance, never to Edition: current; Page: [59] exercise any act of authority over them: for they were not held as subjects, until they had surrendered all their property, both sacred and common, had given hostages, delivered up their arms, and received garrisons in their towns. On the present occasion, Scipio, after severely reproaching Mandonius, who was present, and Indibilis, who was absent, said, that “they had deservedly been brought to ruin by their own wicked practices; that they should owe their lives to the generosity of himself and the Roman people. Further, he would not even deprive them of their arms; those were only to be taken, as pledges, by such as feared a renewal of war; they should, therefore, be freely left them; nor should their minds be shackled with fear. Should they again revolt, he would not take vengeance on guiltless hostages, but on themselves; he would inflict no punishment on defenceless enemies, but on those who carried arms. That he left it to themselves, who had experienced both, to choose the favour or the resentment of the Romans.” On these terms Mandonius was dismissed, and they were only fined a sum of money for the pay of the troops. Scipio, having sent on his lieutenant into Farther Spain, and Silanus back to Tarraco, delayed only a few days, until the Illergetians had paid the fine demanded of them. Then, with some troops lightly equipped, he followed Marcius, whom he overtook at a small distance from the ocean.

XXXV. The negociation, some time before commenced with Masinissa, had been delayed by various causes; the Numidian choosing to confer only with Scipio himself, and from his hand to receive the ratification of the compact. This was Scipio’s reason for undertaking at that time so long a journey, and to places so distant from his quarters. When Masinissa received notice at Gades from Marcius, that he was drawing nigh, complaining that his horses were injured by being pent up in the island; that they not only caused a Edition: current; Page: [60] scarcity of every thing among the men, but felt it themselves; and besides, that the horsemen were losing their spirits through want of exercise; he prevailed on Mago to allow him to pass over to the continent, to plunder the adjacent country of the Spaniards. On landing, he sent forward three chiefs of the Numidians, to fix a time and place for a conference, desiring that two of them might be detained by Scipio as hostages, and the third sent back to conduct him to the place appointed. They came to the conference with but few attendants; the Numidian had long been possessed with admiration of the man he was about to meet, from the fame of his exploits, and had formed a perfect idea of the grandeur and dignity of his person. But on seeing him, his veneration increased; for the elegance of his appearance, naturally majestic, was added to by his flowing hair, and by his becoming dress, not decorated with ornaments, but in a style truly manly and military; by his age also, as he was in full vigour, aided by the bloom of youth, renewed as it were after his late illness. At their meeting, the Numidian, struck with a degree of astonishment, first “thanked him for having sent home his brother’s son; assured him, that ever since that transaction he had sought for the present opportunity, which being at length offered by the favour of the immortal gods, he had not neglected: that he wished to exert himself in his service and that of the Roman people, with more zeal and effect than had ever been shown by any foreigner, in support of the Roman interest: that although this had long been his wish, yet he was less able to effect it in Spain,—a territory with which he was little acquainted; but in his own country, in Africa, where he had been born, and educated with the hopes of enjoying the kingdom of his father, it would be more easily in his power to serve them: that if the Romans thought proper to send the same commander, Scipio, into Africa, he had good reason to hope that the existence of Carthage would Edition: current; Page: [61] be of very short duration.” Scipio received and heard him with much satisfaction; he knew that Masinissa was the main support of the enemy with respect to cavalry, and the young man himself had given considerable proofs of spirit. After they had mutually pledged their faith, he returned to Tarraco; and Masinissa having, with permission of the Romans, ravaged the neighbouring soil, that he might not appear to have passed over to the continent for nothing, returned to Gades.

XXXVI. While Mago was preparing to pass into Africa, despairing of success in Spain, (of which he had been encouraged to entertain hopes, first, by the mutiny of the soldiers, and afterwards by the revolt of Indibilis,) information was brought from Carthage, that the senate ordered him to carry over to Italy the fleet which he had at Gades, and having there hired as many of the Gallic and Ligurian youth as he could find, to form a junction with Hannibal, and not to suffer the war to sink into languor, after the very great exertions and greater successes which had signalized its beginning. Money, to answer this purpose, was brought to Mago from Carthage, in addition to which he extorted much from the people of Gades, plundering not only their treasury but their temples, and compelling them to bring in their private properties of gold and silver to the public stock. As he sailed along the coast of Spain, he landed his men not far from New Carthage; and having ravaged the lands adjoining, brought up his fleet from thence to the city; where, having kept his soldiers on board the ships during the day, he disembarked them in the night, and led them on to that part of the wall over which the Romans had entered when they took the place; for he had a notion that the garrison was not strong, and that, on seeing a hope of changing masters, some of the townsmen would raise a commotion. But those, who had fled Edition: current; Page: [62] in a panic from the fields, had already brought an account of the dispersion of the country-people, and the approach of the enemy; the fleet also had been observed during the day, and it was sufficiently evident that its station before the city had not been chosen without some reason. The garrison were therefore drawn up, and kept under arms, within side the gate which looks towards the bason and the sea. The enemy, rushing on in a tumultuous manner, with crowds of seamen mixed among the soldiers, advanced to the walls with more noise than strength, when the Romans, suddenly throwing open the gate, rushed forth with a shout, and having disordered and repulsed the motley band at the first onset and discharge of their darts, pursued them with great slaughter to the coast, nor would one of them have survived the battle and the pursuit, had not the vessels, warping close to the shore, received them as they fled in dismay. Those on shipboard also were not without their share of the confusion, occasioned by the drawing up of the ladders, lest the enemy should force in along with their own men, and in cutting away their cables and anchors to avoid the delay of weighing them. Many, in attempting to swim to the ships, as they could not in the declining light distinguish whither they ought to direct their course, or what to avoid, met a miserable death. Next day, when the fleet had fled back to the midocean, there were found between the wall and the shore eight hundred men slain, and two thousand stands of arms.

XXXVII. Mago, returning to Gades, was not permitted to enter the place, on which he put with his fleet into Cimbis, at a little distance, and from thence sent ambassadors, complaining of their having shut their gates against an ally and friend. While they apologized for this act, alleging that it had been done by a part of the multitude, who were offended because some of their effects had been carried off by the soldiers Edition: current; Page: [63] when they were embarking, he enticed their suffetes* (which is the name of the chief magistracy among the Carthaginians) and their treasurer to a conference; and then ordered them to be crucified, after they had been mangled with stripes. From thence he sailed to the island Pityusa,† about one hundred miles from the continent, inhabited at that time by Carthaginians, where the fleet was received in a friendly manner, and supplied not only with abundance of provisions, but with a reinforcement of young men and arms. Emboldened by these succours, the Carthaginian proceeded to the Balearick islands, about fifty miles distant. There are two of the Baleares,‡ one larger and more powerful in men and arms than the other, and which has also a harbour, where he believed he might pass the winter commodiously, as it was now the latter end of autumn. But here he met with an opposition, as violent as if the inhabitants of that island had been Romans. As they now mostly use slings, so at that time these were their only weapons, in the skilful use of which the Baleareans universally excel all others. Such a quantity, therefore, of stones was poured, like the thickest hail, on the fleet as it approached the land, that, not daring to enter the harbour, the Carthaginians tacked about to the Edition: current; Page: [64] main. They then passed over to the smaller of the Baleares, which is equally fertile in soil, though, as already noted, of lesser strength. Here they landed, and pitched their camp in a strong post, over the harbour, taking possession of the city and country without a contest. Then, having enlisted two thousand auxiliaries, and sent them to Carthage for the winter, they hauled their ships on shore. After Mago had departed from the coast, the people of Gades surrendered to the Romans.

XXXVIII. Such were the transactions in Spain under the conduct and command of Publius Scipio; who, having committed the charge of the province to Lucius Lentulus and Lucius Manlius Audinus, returned to Rome with ten ships; and having obtained an audience of the senate in the temple of Bellona without the city, made a recital of his services in Spain, how often he had engaged the enemy in pitched battles, how many towns he had taken, and what nations he had reduced under the dominion of the Roman people; that “he had gone into Spain against four generals, and four armies, who were elated with victory; and that he had not left a Carthaginian in all that country.” On account of these exploits, he rather made trial how far he might hope for a triumph, than pushed for it with any earnestness, because it was well known that no one had ever been honoured with it for achievements performed, unless invested with a public office. When the senate was dismissed, he proceeded into the city, and carried before him to the treasury fourteen thousand three hundred and forty-two pounds weight of silver, and of coined silver a great sum. Lucius Veturius Philo then held the assembly for electing consuls; and all the centuries with extraordinary marks of attachment named Publius Scipio consul. The colleague joined with him was Publius Licinius Crassus, chief pontiff. We are told that this election was attended by a greater concourse of people than any Edition: current; Page: [65] during that war. They had come together from all parts, not only for the purpose of giving their votes, but of getting a sight of Scipio; and ran in crowds, both to his house and to the Capitol, while he was performing sacrifice, by offering to Jupiter a hundred oxen, which he had vowed on occasion of the mutiny of the soldiers in Spain. Strong expectations were at the same time entertained, that, as Caius Lutatius had finished the former Punic war, so Publius Cornelius Scipio would finish the present; and that, as he had already expelled the Carthaginians from every part of Spain, he would in like manner expel them from Italy. They therefore destined Africa to him as a province, as if the war in Italy were at an end. The election of the prætors was then held: two were appointed, who were, at the time, plebeian ædiles, Spurius Lucretius and Cneius Octavius; and, of private rank, Cneius Servilius Cæpio, and Lucius Æmilius Popus.Y.R.547. bc205. In the fourteenth year of the Punic war, as soon as Publius Cornelius Scipio, and Publius Licinius Crassus entered on the consulship, the provinces for the consuls were named; for Scipio, Sicily, without drawing lots, with the consent of his colleague, because the necessary attendance on religious matters required the presence of the chief pontiff in Italy; for Crassus, Bruttium. The provinces of the prætors were then disposed of by lot; that of the city fell to Cneius Servilius; Ariminum (so they called Gaul,) to Spurius Lucretius; Sicily to Lucius Æmilius; and Sardinia to Cneius Octavius. The senate was held in the Capitol; there, on the matter being proposed by Publius Scipio, a decree was made, that the games, which he had vowed during the mutiny of the soldiers in Spain, should be exhibited, and the expense defrayed out of the money which himself had conveyed to the treasury.

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XXXIX. He then introduced to the senate ambassadors from Saguntum, the eldest of whom addressed them in this manner: “Conscript Fathers, although there is no degree of evil beyond what we have endured, in order that we might preserve our faith towards you inviolate to the last; yet so highly has your behaviour, and that of your commanders, merited at our hands, that we do not repent of having exposed ourselves to sufferings. On our account you undertook the war, and although it is now the fourteenth year since it began, yet you still maintain it with such persevering spirit, as to endanger yourselves, while having often brought the Carthaginians to the very brink of ruin. At a time when you had so grievous a contest to maintain, and with such an antagonist as Hannibal, you sent your consul, with an army, into Spain, to collect as it were what remained of us after a shipwreck. Publius and Cneius Cornelius, from the moment of their arrival in the province, never ceased to pursue measures favourable to us, and destructive to our enemies. They, first of all, regained and gave back to us our city; and, sending persons to search for our countrymen who had been sold and dispersed through every part of Spain, they restored them from slavery to liberty. When, after experiencing the utmost wretchedness, we were near being happily settled, your commanders, Publius and Cneius Cornelius, fell, more to be lamented in some measure by us, even than by you. Then, indeed, it appeared as if we had been called from distant places to our original residence, only that we might be a second time ruined; only that we might see a second destruction of our country. That, to accomplish this, there was no occasion for an army of Carthaginians; we might be utterly destroyed by our oldest and most inveterate enemies, the Turdulans, who had also been the cause of our former calamity. In which conjuncture, you speedily, and beyond our expectations, sent to us this Publius Scipio, the author of Edition: current; Page: [67] our well-being, the supporter of all our hopes; of whose election to the consulship, our having been eye-witnesses, and our being able to carry home the joyful news to our countrymen, renders us the happiest of the Saguntines. He, having taken a great number of the towns of your enemies in Spain, always separated the Saguntines from the rest of the prisoners, and sent them home to their own country; and, lastly, by his arms, so humbled Turdetania—a state so inveterate in its animosity against us, that, if its power had continued, Saguntum must have fallen,—that not only we, but (let me say it without presumption) even our posterity, need have no apprehensions from it. We now see their city destroyed,—the city of a people for whose gratification Hannibal ruined Saguntum. We now receive tribute from their country—a circumstance not more gratifying to us, in the profit we derive from it, than in the satisfying of our revenge. In gratitude for these blessings, greater than which we could not either hope or implore from the immortal gods, the senate and people of Saguntum have sent us, their ten ambassadors, to present their thanks; and, at the same time, to congratulate you on the success which has of late years attended your arms in Spain and Italy. You hold the possession of Spain, so acquired, not only as far as the city Iberus, but to the utmost limits and boundaries by the ocean; while in Italy you have left nothing to the Carthaginian, but what the rampart of his camp encloses. To Jove, supremely great and good, who presides over the fortress of the Capitol, we have been ordered, not only to make acknowledgments for these blessings, but, with your permission, to bear thither this offering, a golden crown, in token of victory. We request that you will permit us this act of reverence; and, also, that you will ratify by your authority, and fix on a permanent footing, the advantages bestowed on us by your commanders.” The senate answered the Saguntine ambassadors, that “the destruction Edition: current; Page: [68] and restoration of Saguntum would be an example to all nations, of social faith fulfilled on both sides; that their commanders, in restoring that city, and delivering its inhabitants from slavery, had acted properly, regularly, and agreeably to the intentions of the senate: that all other acts of kindness shown them had likewise their approbation, and that they gave them permission to deposit their charge in the Capitol.” Orders were then given that apartments and entertainment should be provided for the ambassadors, and a present made to each of them, of not less than ten thousand asses.* Other embassies were then introduced and heard. On the Saguntines requesting that they might be allowed to take a view of Italy, as far as they could go with safety, guides were given them, and letters despatched to all the towns, requiring them to entertain these Spaniards in a friendly manner. The senate then took into consideration the state of public affairs, the levying troops, and the distribution of the provinces.

XL. People in general expressed a desire that Africa should be constituted a new province, and assigned to Publius Scipio without casting lots; and he, not content with a moderate share of glory, affirmed that he had been appointed consul, not for the purpose only of carrying on the war, but of finishing it; that this could be accomplished by no other means than by transporting an army into Africa; declaring openly, that if the senate should oppose him in that point, he would carry it by the votes of the people. The principal senators by no means approved of the design; and whilst the rest, either through fear, or a desire of ingratiating themselves with him, declined uttering their sentiments, Quintus Fabius Maximus, being asked his opinion, expressed himself to this effect: “I know, Conscript Fathers, that Edition: current; Page: [69] many among you are of opinion, that we are this day deliberating on an affair already determined: and that he will expend words to little purpose who shall deliver his sentiments on the subject of Africa being constituted a province, as on a matter open to discussion. Yet, in the first place, I do not understand how Africa can be a province, already secured to that brave and active commander, our consul; when neither the senate have voted, nor the people ordered, that it should at all be considered as such; and again, if it were, in my judgment it is the consul who acts amiss; for it is a mockery of the senate to pretend to consult them on a question if already decided, and not the senator, who in his place would speak to the business which he supposed in hand. Now I am well aware, that, by disapproving this violent haste to pass over into Africa, I expose myself to two imputations; one, the caution natural to my temper, which young men have my free consent to call cowardice and sloth; while I have no reason to be sorry, that, although the schemes of others always carried at first view a more specious appearance, yet mine were on experience found to be more useful. The other imputation to which I shall be liable, is that of detraction and envy towards the rising glory of the valiant consul:—from a suspicion of which kind, if neither my past life and morals can free me, nor a dictatorship and five consulships, together with a store of glory acquired in the transactions both of war and peace, that it is more likely I should be satiated, than desirous of more; let my age at least acquit me. For what emulation can I have with him, who is not equal in age even to my son? When I was dictator, when I was in full vigour, and proceeding in a course of the greatest achievements, no one heard me, either in the senate or before the people, make opposition to the proposed measure, (although such as had never before been heard of, even in conversation,) of conferring power equal to mine on the master Edition: current; Page: [70] of the horse, and who, at the very time, was endeavouring to injure my character. I chose to effect my purpose by actions rather than words; and that he who was set on a level with me in the judgment of others, should at length, by his own confession, allow me a superiority over him. Much less would I now, after having passed through every dignity of the state, propose to myself contests and emulations with a man blooming in youth. Is it that Africa, if refused to him, might be decreed as a province to me,—to me, already wearied, not only with the toils of business, but even with length of years? No: with that glory which I have already acquired, I am to live and die. I stopped the career of Hannibal’s conquests, that you, whose powers are now in vigour, might be able to gain conquests over him.

XLI. “As I never, in my own case, regarded the opinion of the world when set in competition with the advantage of the state, it will be but reasonable that you pardon me, Publius Cornelius, if I do not consider even your fame in preference to the public good. If either there were no war in Italy, or the enemy here were such, that a victory over him would be productive of no glory, he who should attempt to retain you in Italy, notwithstanding that he consulted therein the general welfare, might seem to intend, while he restrained you from removing the war, to deprive you of a subject of future glory. Yet Hannibal, a powerful enemy, with an army unimpaired, maintains a footing in Italy, for the fourteenth year. Would you then have reason to be dissatisfied, Publius Cornelius, with your share of fame, if you should in your consulate expel such a foe from out of Italy; a foe, who has been the cause of so much mourning, of so many calamities to us? In fine, should you not be content to enjoy the reputation of having finished the present Punic war, as Caius Lutatius did that of finishing the former? Unless, indeed, Edition: current; Page: [71] you will say, that Hamilcar is a general more formidable than Hannibal; or that a war in Africa is of greater importance than it would be in Italy; that a victory there, (supposing it should be our good fortune to obtain such while you are consul,) would be more profitable and illustrious than one here. Would you choose to draw away Hamilcar from Drepanum or Eryx, rather than to expel the Carthaginians and Hannibal out of Italy? Although you should look with a more partial regard on the renown which you have acquired, than on that which you have in prospect, yet surely you would not pride yourself so much in having freed Spain, as in freeing Italy. Hannibal is not yet in such a condition, that he who prefers engaging with another general, must not evidently appear to be actuated by fear of him, rather than by contempt. Why, then, do you not direct your efforts to this point, and carry the strength of the war immediately to the place where Hannibal is, and not by that circuition, presuming that, when you shall have passed into Africa, Hannibal will follow you thither? Do you wish to be crowned with the distinguished honour of having finished the Punic war? In the very nature of things, you are to defend your own property, before you attack another’s. Let peace be restored in Italy, before hostilities commence in Africa. Let us be delivered from fear ourselves, before we attempt to make others afraid of us. If both can be accomplished under your conduct and auspices, it will be well. After you have vanquished Hannibal at home, then go and lay siege to Carthage. If one or the other of these conquests must be left to succeeding consuls, the former, as it will be the more important and the more glorious, will be also the cause of the subsequent one. For in the present state of affairs, besides that the treasury cannot maintain two different armies, one in Italy, and another in Africa; besides that we have nothing left us wherewith we could equip fleets, or be able to supply Edition: current; Page: [72] provisions, who does not see what danger must be incurred? Publius Licinius will wage war in Italy, Publius Scipio in Africa. What if Hannibal, having gained a superiority, should advance to the city, (may all the gods avert the omen! my mind is shocked even at mentioning it; but what has happened, may happen again,) will that be a time for us to be obliged to send for you, the consul, from Africa, as we sent for Quintus Fulvius from Capua? Besides, are we to suppose that in Africa the chances of war will not be the same with both parties? Let your father and your uncle be a warning to you,—cut off, together with their armies, in the space of thirty days; and after having, during a course of several years, by their great services, as well on land as at sea, rendered the name of the Roman people, and of your family, in the highest degree illustrious among foreign states. The whole day would not be sufficient, were I to recount to you all the kings and generals, who, by passing rashly into an enemy’s country, have brought the greatest calamities on themselves and their armies. The Athenians, for instance, a state remarkable for prudence, having, at the instigation of a youth who was distinguished as much by his active spirit as by his nobility, neglected a war at home, and sent over a large fleet to Sicily, (their commonwealth at that time in a most flourishing condition,) suffered, in one naval engagement, such a blow as could never be retrieved.

XLII. “But, not to bring examples from distant countries, and times of such remote antiquity, Africa itself, and Marcus Atilius, (a remarkable instance of both extremes of fortune,) may serve as a warning to us. Be assured, Publius Cornelius, that, when you shall have a view of Africa from the sea, all your exploits in Spain will appear to you to have been only matter of sport and play. For, in what circumstance can they be compared? After sailing along the coasts of Italy and Gaul, where there was nothing to oppose you, Edition: current; Page: [73] you carried your fleet into the harbour of Emporiæ, a city belonging to our allies; and, having landed your men, you led them through countries entirely free from danger, to Tarraco, to the friends and allies of the Roman people. From Tarraco, you passed amid Roman garrisons. It was on the Iberus, indeed, that the armies of your father and uncle were exasperated by the loss of their generals, their new commander being Lucius Marcus, irregularly appointed, it is true, and chosen, for the time, by the suffrages of the soldiers; but, except that he wanted a noble birth, and a regular course of promotion, equal to many celebrated captains in every military accomplishment. The siege of New Carthage you carried on quite at your leisure, while neither of the three Carthaginian armies attempted to relieve the place. As to the rest of your exploits, I am far from wishing to lessen their merit, but they are certainly, by no means, to be compared with a war in Africa; where there is not a single harbour open to our fleet; no part of the country at peace with us; no state our ally; no king our friend; no room, any where, either to stand or advance. On whatever side you turn your eyes, all things are hostile and threatening. Will you depend on Syphax and the Numidians? Suffice it to say, that they were once trusted. Rashness is not always successful; and hypocrisy, by acquiring a foundation of credit in smaller matters, prepares for itself the opportunity of deceiving with greater advantage. The foe did not get the better of your father and uncle by arms, until their Celtiberian allies had first got the better of them by treachery. Nor were you yourself brought into so much danger by Mago and Hasdrubal, the enemy’s generals, as by Indibilis and Mandonius, whom you had received into your protection. Can you, who have experienced a defection of your own soldiers, place any confidence in Numidians? Both Syphax and Masinissa are desirous of becoming the greatest powers in Edition: current; Page: [74] Africa, to the exclusion of the Carthaginians; but still they prefer the interest of those people to that of any other state. At present, mutual emulation embitter them against each other, and which arises from their feeling no immediate apprehensions from any foreign force. The moment they behold the Roman arms, they will instantly unite, as if to extinguish a fire equally threatening them both. The efforts which these same Carthaginians made in support of Spain, were widely different from what they will exert, in defence of the walls of their native city, of the temples of their gods, their altars, and their dwellings; when their wives, distracted with fear, shall accompany them as they go to battle, and their helpless children gather round them. Besides, what if the Carthaginians, thinking themselves sufficiently secured by the harmony subsisting in Africa, by the faith of the kings their allies, and by their own fortifications, should, on seeing Italy deprived of your protection, either send over a new army from Africa into Italy, or order Mago, (who, we know, has sailed over from the Baleares, and is now cruising on the coast of the Alpine Ligurians,) to join his forces to those of Hannibal? We should then be seized with the same terror which we felt lately, on hearing of the approach of Hasdrubal; and whom you, (who are to shut up with your army, not only Carthage, but all Africa,) allowed to slip through your hands into Italy. You will say, that he was defeated by you: the less, for that very reason, can I wish that he should be permitted, after being defeated, to march into this country; and that, not only upon the account of the public, but your own also. Allow us to ascribe to your good conduct all those events in your province which were favourable to you and to the state; and to impute such as were unfavourable to fortune, and to the chances of war. The more merit and bravery you possess, the more is your country and all Italy concerned to keep at home so powerful a protector. Edition: current; Page: [75] You cannot but acknowledge, that wherever Hannibal is, there the main stress and head of the present war must be looked for: yet the reason you give for passing over into Africa is, that you may draw Hannibal thither. Whether the Carthaginians, therefore, be in this country or in that, your business is to oppose him. Now, I pray you, whether will you be better able to cope with him in Africa, where you are to stand alone; or here, with the army of your colleague joined to your own? Is not the importance of this consideration sufficiently evinced by the recent fate of the consuls Claudius and Livius? What! is Hannibal to be feared here, as receiving an augmentation of men and arms from the remotest corner of the country of Bruttium, (and which he in vain solicits from home;) or with Carthage at his back, and all Africa confederated with him? What is this plan of choosing to fight there, where your forces must be less by half, and those of the enemy considerably greater, rather than here, at the head of two armies against one, and that one impaired in strength by so many battles, and by such long and laborious service? Consider well how far this plan of yours resembles that of your father. He, in his consulship, after having gone to Spain, came back from his province to Italy, in order to meet Hannibal as he was descending from the Alps: you, when Hannibal is in Italy, intend to quit the country, not because you judge that measure useful to the state, but because you expect from it splendour and glory to yourself. Just as when, without an order of the commons, without a decree of the senate, you left your province and your army;—yes, you, a commander employed by the Roman people, entrusted to two ships the fortune of the public, and the majesty of the empire, which were then exposed to hazard in your person. In my judgment, Conscript Fathers, Publius Cornelius Scipio was elected consul for the purpose of serving us and the people; not for his own private schemes of ambition. In my opinion, the Edition: current; Page: [76] armies were enlisted for the protection of the city and of Italy, and not to be carried about by the consuls with king-like ostentation, in gratification of their own vanity, and to any part of the world they may think proper.”

XLIII. By this speech, formed for the occasion, by his authority and his established character for prudence, Fabius influenced a great part of the senate, especially those advanced in years; and a greater number approving of the wariness of the sage than of the spirit of the youth, Scipio is said to have spoken thus: “Conscript Fathers, even Quintus Fabius himself, in the beginning of his speech, has acknowledged that, in the declaration which he has made of his sentiments, he might possibly be suspected of detraction; and although I will not presume to bring a charge of such a nature against so great a man, yet certainly, whether through a defect in his discourse, or in the subject, the suspicion has not been removed. For, in order to avoid the imputation of envy, he has extolled his own honours, and the fame of his exploits, in very magnificent terms; tending to show, that whatever competition I may enter into with others; however I may fear that some person, now in obscurity, may one day be equal with me; yet, from him I have no kind of rivalry to apprehend: for he has attained to such a height of eminence, that he will not suffer me at any time to be placed on a level with him, however anxiously I may wish it; and that I do wish it, I will by no means dissemble. He has, therefore, represented himself as a man of gravity and wisdom, who has passed through every degree of public honours; and me, as below the age even of his son; as if ambition extended not his views beyond the present life, and did not look forward to posterity and future remembrance as the greatest possible reward. I well know, that it is usual with persons of exalted merit to compare themselves with the illustrious men, not only of the present, but of every age; and Edition: current; Page: [77] I do not deny, Quintus Fabius, that I wish not only to overtake you in the race of glory, but (pardon the expression) to outrun you, if I can. That disposition of mind will not, I hope, affect you towards me, nor me towards my juniors, that we should be displeased if any of our countrymen became distinguished like ourselves; for that would be an injury not only to those who were the objects of our envy, but to the state, and in some measure to all mankind. Fabius has descanted on the danger which I must incur if I pass into Africa, so as to appear anxious, not only about the safety of the nation and the army, but about mine. Whence has this concern for me so suddenly arisen? When my father and uncle were slain; when their two armies were cut off almost to a man; when Spain was lost; when four armies and four generals of the Carthaginians, by terror and by arms, kept possession of every thing; when the public were at a loss for a general to conduct that war, and no one stepped forward except myself; when no one dared to declare himself a candidate; when the Roman people had conferred the command on me, though but twenty-four years old,—how happened it that no mention was then made of my age, of the power of the enemy, of the difficulties of opposing him, or of the recent calamity of my relatives? Has any greater misfortune befallen us in Africa, than had at that time been experienced in Spain? Are there now on that continent more numerous armies or better generals, than there were then in Spain? Was I fitter at that time of life for conducting a war than I am now? Is a contest with a Carthaginian enemy less difficult in Spain than in Africa? It is an easy matter, after four Carthaginian armies routed and entirely dispersed; after so many cities taken by force, or terrified into a surrender; while all places, even as far as the ocean, have been brought under entire subjection; while so many princes, so many savage nations have been wholly reduced; in a word, after Edition: current; Page: [78] all Spain has been re-conquered, and in such a manner as that no trace of war remains;—it is easy, I say, to depreciate the value of my services, just as easy, in truth, as it will be, if I shall return victorious from Africa, to make light of those very circumstances which are now so greatly aggravated, and painted in such terrible colours, for the purpose of detaining me here. It is affirmed that no entrance can be found into Africa; that there are no harbours open to us; that Marcus Atilius was taken prisoner there, as if Marcus Atilius had miscarried on approaching that coast. But Fabius does not recollect that this commander (afterwards, indeed, unfortunate) found the harbours of Africa open, and during the first year performed extraordinary services; and, as far as concerned the Carthaginian generals, remained unconquered to the last. The example which you produce, therefore, does not in the least deter me. If that loss had even been sustained in the present war, and not in the former; if lately, and not forty years ago; yet why should I not as well pass into Africa after Regulus was made prisoner, as into Spain after the Scipios were slain; nor suffer it to be said, that the birth of Xantippus, a Lacedæmonian, was, by the defeat of our consul, more fortunate to Carthage, than mine to my own country? and why might I not assume additional confidence from that very circumstance, that it was possible for the bravery of one man, a Spartan, to produce such important consequences? But we are also told of the Athenians neglecting a war at home, and passing inconsiderately into Sicily. Why do you not rather (since you have leisure to recount Grecian fables) mention Agathocles King of Syracuse, who, when Sicily was for a long time wasted by a Punic war, by passing over into this same Africa, averted that war to the place from whence it came?

XLIV. “But what need is there either of ancient or foreign examples to remind us how useful it is to spread terror Edition: current; Page: [79] among the enemy by a sudden attack; and after removing the danger to a distance from ourselves, to make him abide the hazard? Can there be any greater or more striking instance than is found in Hannibal? Between wasting the territories of others, and seeing our own destroyed with fire and sword, the difference is immense. The assailant has ever more spirit than the defendant; and people’s apprehensions are the greater in the latter case. When you have entered an enemy’s territories, you can then see more distinctly the advantages and disadvantages which pertain to the same. Hannibal never entertained a hope that so many nations in Italy would revolt to him as did, and which was induced by our misfortune at Cannæ. How much less can any firm and steady support in Africa be expected by the Carthaginians, who are themselves faithless allies, severe and haughty masters? As to ourselves, even when deserted by confederates, we stood firm in our own natural strength, the soldiery of Rome. This the Carthaginians do not possess; beside, their soldiers are procured for hire,—Africans, with Numidians, of all men the most unsteady in their attachments. If no obstruction be thrown in my way at home, you shall shortly hear, that I have made good my descent, and that Africa is in a blaze of war; that Hannibal, in returning thither, comes but to experience a defeat, and that Carthage is besieged: in fine, expect confidently more frequent and more joyful despatches from that continent than you received from Spain. These hopes are suggested to me by the fortune of the Roman people, the gods who witnessed the treaty which the enemy have violated, and the friendship of the Kings, Syphax and Masinissa, to whom I shall look for aid while securing myself against perfidy. The war will disclose many things which do not appear now; and it is the business of a general, not to fail of improving the overtures of fortune, and to convert casual occurrences to Edition: current; Page: [80] the accomplishment of his designs. I shall, Quintus Fabius, have the antagonist whom you assign me, Hannibal: I shall compel him to fight in his own country, and Carthage rather shall be the prize than the half-ruined forts of the Bruttians. With respect to the security of the state, and that it should suffer no injury while I am on my passage; while I am landing my army in Africa; while I am marching forwards to Carthage; be careful in any assertion as to what you, Quintus Fabius, were able to accomplish, at a time when Hannibal was pursuing a rapid career of victory through all parts of Italy; be mindful, I say, lest it be considered as an insult, that you do not too freely affirm of him, that, shaken and almost broken in pieces, his overthrow by Publius Licinius the consul were easy,—a man by the way of the most consummate valour, and who declined the lot of so distant a province as Africa, only because, being chief pontiff, he must not be absent from his religious duties. In fact, even though the war were not to be brought to a speedier conclusion by the method which I propose, still it would concern the dignity of the Roman people, and their reputation among foreign kings and nations, that we should appear to have spirit, not only to defend Italy, but to carry our arms into Africa; and that it should not be spread abroad, and believed, that no Roman general dared what Hannibal had dared; and that, in the former Punic war, when the contest was about Sicily, Africa had been often attacked by our fleets and armies; but that now, when the contest is about Italy, Africa should enjoy peace. Let Italy, so long harassed, enjoy at length some repose: let Africa, in its turn, feel fire and sword. Let the Roman camp press on the very gates of Carthage, rather than that we, a second time, should behold from our walls the rampart of that of the enemy. Let Africa, in short, be the seat of the remainder of the war: thither be removed terror and flight, devastation of lands, revolt of allies, and Edition: current; Page: [81] all the other calamities with which, for fourteen years, we have been afflicted. It is sufficient that I have delivered my sentiments on those matters which affect the state, the dispute in which we are involved, and the provinces under consideration: my discourse would be tedious, and unsuitable to this audience, if, as Quintus Fabius has depreciated my services in Spain, I should, on the other hand, endeavour in like manner to disparage his glory, and extol my own. I shall do neither, Conscript Fathers; but, young as I am, I will show that I excel that sage, if in nothing else, yet certainly in modesty and temperance of language. Such has been my life and conduct, that I can, in silence, rest perfectly satisfied with that character which your own judgments have formed of me.”

XLV. Scipio was heard the less favourably on account of a rumour which prevailed, that if he did not carry the point in the senate, of having Africa decreed to him as his province, he was determined immediately to submit the business to public decision. Therefore Quintus Fulvius, who had been consul four times, and censor, demanded of the consul, that he should declare openly in the senate, whether “he meant to abide by the determination of the Fathers in regard to the provinces, or whether he intended to bring the matter before the people?” Scipio having answered, that he would act in such a manner as he should deem most advantageous to the state, Fulvius replied, “I did not ask the question through ignorance of what you would answer, and what you intended to do. It is thus plainly seen, that you are rather sounding the senate, than consulting them; and have an order ready to be proposed to the people, if we do not immediately decree to you the province that you desire. I therefore call upon you, tribunes, to support me in refusing to give my opinion, and for this reason, that, although a majority should concur with me, yet the consul would appeal Edition: current; Page: [82] from their judgment.” On this an altercation arose, Scipio insisting, that it was unfair for the tribunes to interpose, so as to prevent any senator from giving his opinion, on being asked it in his place. The tribunes determined thus: “If the consul submits the regulation of the provinces to the senate, we are satisfied that their decision shall be final, and we will not suffer that matter to be carried before the people; if he does not so submit it, we will support such as shall refuse to give their opinion on the subject.” The consul desired time until the next day, that he might confer with his colleague, and the affair was then submitted to the senate, who decreed the provinces in this manner: to one consul, Sicily, and the thirty ships of war, which Caius Servilius had commanded the preceding year, with permission to pass over into Africa, if he should judge it for the advantage of the state; to the other, Bruttium, and the war against Hannibal, with the army which Lucius Veturius, or that which Quintus Cæcilius, commanded; that these latter should cast lots, or settle between themselves, which of them should command in Bruttium, with the two legions which would be left by the consul; and that he, to whose lot that province fell; should be continued in it for another year. The others also who were to have the charge of armies, besides the consuls and prætors, had their commission prolonged. It fell by lot to Quintus Cæcilius, that, in conjunction with the consul, he should manage the war against Hannibal in Bruttium. Scipio’s games were then exhibited to a vast concourse of spectators, who expressed the highest approbation. Marcus Pomponius Matho, and Quintus Catius, being sent ambassadors to Delphi, with a present out of the spoils of Hasdrubal, carried a golden crown of two hundred pounds weight, and representations of the prizes, formed of one thousand pounds weight of silver. Although Scipio had not obtained, nor earnestly solicited, authority to levy Edition: current; Page: [83] soldiers, he yet was permitted to enrol volunteers; and as he had declared that the fleet should be no expense to the public, so he might receive such contributions as should be offered by the allies for building new ships. The states of Etruria first promised to give assistance to the consul, proportioned to the respective abilities of each; the people of Cære engaged to bring corn, and provisions of all kinds, for the seamen; the Populonians, iron; the Tarquinians, canvass for sails; the Volaterrans, tackling and corn; the Arretians, thirty thousand shields, the same number of helmets; of javelins, short pikes, and long spears, each an equal number, amounting in the whole to fifty thousand; to supply axes, mattocks, bills, buckets, and millstones, sufficient for forty ships of war, with one hundred and twenty thousand pecks of wheat; they also promised to contribute to the expense of the decurions* and rowers. The people of Perusium, Clusium, and Rusella gave assurance of fir for building ships, and a large quantity of corn. The states of Umbria, with the people of Nursia, Reate, and Amiternum, and the whole country of the Sabines, engaged to furnish soldiers. Fir, however, he took out of the woods belonging to the state. Great numbers of the Marsians, Pelignians, and Marrusinians, voluntarily gave in their names to serve in the fleet. The Cameritans, though confederated with the Romans on equal terms, sent a cohort of six hundred men and arms. Having laid the keels of thirty ships, twenty quinqueremes, and ten quadriremes, Scipio pressed forward the work by his personal attendance, in such a manner, that on the forty-fifth day after the timber had been brought from the woods, the ships were rigged, armed, and launched.

XLVI. The consul proceeded to Sicily with thirty ships of war, having embarked about seven thousand volunteers. Edition: current; Page: [84] Publius Licinius came into Bruttium to the two consular armies, of which he chose for himself that which had been commanded by the late consul, Lucius Veturius; he placed Metellus at the head of the same legions as before, because he thought it would be the easier for him to transact business with those who were accustomed to his command: the prætors also repaired to their different provinces. Money for the war being wanting, the quæstors were ordered to sell a district of the Campanian territory, extending from the Grecian trench to the sea: they were also empowered to make inquiry what lands had been the property of any native, in order that they might be transferred to the Roman people; with a reward to any informer of the tenth part of the value of the lands so discovered. It was also given in charge to Cneius Servilius, prætor of the city, that the natives of Campania should be obliged to remain in those places which had been decreed for their residence by the senate, and that such as removed to any other should be punished. During the same summer, Mago, son of Hamilcar, after having spent the winter in the smaller of the Baleares, and having there embarked a chosen body of young men on board his fleet, which consisted of near thirty ships of war, and a great number of transports, carried into Italy twelve thousand foot, and about two thousand horse; and, by his unexpected arrival, surprised Genoa, there being no forces stationed to protect the coast. From thence he sailed to the coast of the Alpine Ligurians, to try if he could raise any commotions there. The Ingaunians, a tribe of the Ligurians, were at that time engaged in war with the Epanterians, who inhabited the mountains: the Carthaginian, therefore, having deposited his plunder at Savo, a town of the Alps, and left a squadron of ten ships of war to protect it, sent the rest to Carthage, to guard the sea-coast, a report being spread that Scipio intended to pass over thither. He then formed an alliance Edition: current; Page: [85] with the Ingaunians, whose friendship he esteemed, resolving in person to attack the mountaineers. His army increased daily, the Gauls, induced by the greatness of his character, pouring in from all sides. When the senate were informed of these proceedings, by letters from Spurius Lucretius, they were filled with much anxiety, apprehending that the joy which they had conceived, on the destruction of Hasdrubal and his army, two years before, would prove ill-founded, if another war, equal to the former, only under a different general, were to arise from the same quarter. They therefore commanded Marcus Livius, proconsul, to march an army of volunteer slaves from Etruria to Ariminum, at the same time charging the prætor, Cneius Servilius, if he judged it advantageous to the state, to order the city legions to be led into the field, by such commander as he should think proper. Marcus Valerius Lævinus conducted those legions to Arretium. About this time eighty transport ships of the Carthaginians were taken on the coast of Sardinia by Cneius Octavius, who held the government of that province. Cælius relates that these were laden with corn and provisions for Hannibal; Valerius, that they were carrying to Carthage the plunder of Etruria, and the Ligurian mountaineers, who had been made prisoners. In Bruttium, hardly any thing memorable happened during that year. A pestilence had attacked both Romans and Carthaginians with equal violence, except that the Carthaginians, besides the disorder, were distressed by famine. Hannibal spent the summer near the temple of Juno Lacinea, where he built and dedicated an altar, with an inscription in the Carthaginian and Greek characters, containing a pompous recital of his exploits.

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BOOK XXIX.

In Spain, Mandonius and Indibilis, reviving hostilities, are finally subdued. Scipio goes over from Syracuse to Locri; dislodges the Carthaginian general; repulses Hannibal, and recovers that city. Peace made with Philip. The Idæan Mother brought to Rome from Phrygia; received by Publius Scipio Nasica, judged by the senate, the best man in the state. Scipio passes over into Africa. Syphax, having married a daughter of Hasdrubal, renounces his alliance with Scipio. Masinissa, who had been expelled his kingdom by Syphax, joins Scipio with two hundred horsemen; they defeat a large army commanded by Hanno. Hasdrubal and Syphax approach with a most numerous force. Scipio raises the siege of Utica, and fortifies a post for the winter. The consul Sempronius gets the better of Hannibal in a battle near Croton. Dispute between Marcus Livius and Claudius Nero, censors.

Y.R. 547. bc 205.WHEN Scipio arrived in Sicily, he formed his volunteers into cohorts and centuries; of which forces he kept three hundred about him, all of them vigorous young men, and ignorant of the purpose for which they were reserved, being neither enrolled in the centuries, nor supplied with arms. Then, out of the whole number of youths in Sicily, he chose also three hundred of distinguished Edition: current; Page: [87] birth and fortune as horsemen, who were to pass over with him into Africa, appointing a day on which they were to attend, equipped and furnished with horses and arms. This service appeared to them very severe, being so far from home, and attended with great fatigues and great dangers, both by sea and land; so much so, that not only themselves, but their parents and relations, were distressed with anxiety on their account. At the time appointed, they brought their horses and arms to be inspected; Scipio then told them, that “he was informed that some of the Sicilian horsemen dreaded the service on which they were going, as laborious and severe; that if any were thus affected, he wished them to acknowledge it then to him, rather than to complain afterwards, and prove inactive and useless soldiers to the state: he desired them to express their sentiments freely, assuring them they should be listened to without displeasure.” On which one of them ventured to say, that, if he had a free option, he certainly would wish to decline the service. Scipio replied; “Since then, young man, you have not dissembled your sentiments, I will provide a substitute for you, to whom you must deliver your horse, your arms, and other implements of war: take him hence directly to your house; exercise him, and take care that he be instructed in the management of his horse and arms.” These terms the other embraced with joy, on which Scipio put into his hands one of the three hundred whom he kept unarmed. When the others saw the horseman discharged in this manner, with the approbation of the general, each began to excuse himself, and receive a substitute. Thus were Roman horsemen substituted in the place of the three hundred Sicilians, without any expense to the public. The Sicilians had the trouble of instructing and exercising them; the general having ordered, that any who did not perform this, should continue in the service. We are told that this proved an excellent body of horse, and did good service Edition: current; Page: [88] to the state in many battles. Afterwards reviewing the legions, he chose out of them those soldiers who had been the longest time in the army, especially those who had served with Marcellus; believing that they were not only formed under the best discipline, but, in consequence of the long siege of Syracuse, were best skilled in the method of attacking towns; for the object to which his views were now directed, was no small matter, being nothing less than the uter destruction of Carthage. He then cantoned his army in the different towns; ordered in a supply of corn from the Sicilian states, sparing what he had brought from Italy; repaired the old ships, and sent Caius Lælius with them to Africa, to plunder the country; then hauled up the new ones on land at Panormus, that they might lie dry during the winter, because they had been hastily built of green timber; and having completed the preparations for the war, he came to Syracuse, where tranquillity was not yet entirely re-established, after the late violent commotion. The Greeks, in pursuance of a grant of the senate, demanding a restoration of their effects from some Italians, who kept possession of them with the same force with which they had seized them, Scipio, reckoning it essentially requisite to support the public faith, procured a restitution of the same; partly by a proclamation issued, and partly by sentences passed against those who persisted in retaining their unjust acquisitions. This proceeding was highly acceptable not only to the persons aggrieved, but to all the states of Sicily, and added to their alacrity in forwarding the preparations for war.

II. A formidable war was raised this summer in Spain by the instigation of Indibilis, the Illergetian, on no other grounds than the contempt which, through his great admiration of Scipio, he entertained of all other generals. He was of opinion, that “this commander was the only one whom the Romans had remaining; the others of any note, having, Edition: current; Page: [89] as he conceived, been slain by Hannibal. For, when the Scipios were cut off in Spain, they had none whom they could send thither; and, afterwards, when the war pressed too heavily on them in Italy, the present one had been recalled to act against Hannibal. That, besides, the Romans having only nominal generals in Spain, their veteran army had been withdrawn from thence: that, among the troops which remained, there was neither spirit nor firmness, as they consisted of an undisciplined multitude of new recruits: that there would never again be such an opportunity of asserting the liberty of Spain: that until that day, they had been slaves either to the Carthaginians or Romans; and that, not to one or the other by turns, but sometimes to both together: that the Carthaginians had been expelled by the Romans; and that the Romans might now be expelled by the Spaniards, if these would act with unanimity, so that being for ever freed from the dominion of foreigners, they might return to their own native manners and rites.” By these, and other the like discourses, he roused to arms, not only his own countrymen, but the Ausetanians also, a neighbouring state, with other nations that bordered on his and their country; so that, within a few days, thirty thousand foot and about four thousand horse assembled in the territory of Sedeta, according to his directions. On the other side, the Roman generals, Lucius Lentulus and Lucius Manlius Acidinus, lest the war, being neglected in the beginning, should spread with increasing violence, united their armies; and conducting them through the country of the Ausetanians in as peaceable a manner as if they were among friends, they arrived at the place where the enemy lay; and pitched their tents at three miles distance from the Spanish camp. By sending ambassadors, they endeavoured to prevail on them to lay aside their arms, but in vain. Afterwards, the Spanish horsemen having made a sudden attack on the foragers of the Romans, Edition: current; Page: [90] and the latter sending some troops to support them from one of their outposts, there ensued a battle between the cavalry, in which neither side gained any considerable advantage.

III. At sunrise next day, the whole force of the enemy appeared in arms, and drawn up in order of battle, at the distance of about a mile from the Roman camp. The Ausetanians were in the centre, the Illergetians formed the right wing, and people of several inconsiderable Spanish states the left: between the wings and the main body, they had left very wide intervals, through which the horse might charge upon occasion. The Romans drew up their army in the usual manner, yet so far following the example of the enemy as to leave passages open for the cavalry between the legions. Lentulus, however, considering that the horse could be of use only to that party which should first make an attack on the enemy’s line, divided by the intervals, commanded Servius Cornelius, tribune of the soldiers, to order them to charge through the same. The fight between the infantry being rather unfavourable to the Romans at the beginning, he was obliged to delay for a time, while the thirteenth legion from the reserve was brought up to the first line, so as to support the twelfth, which had been posted in the left wing against the Illergetians, and which began to give ground. The fight being restored, Scipio hastened to Lucius Manlius, who was exerting himself among the foremost battalions, encouraging and supporting his men by a supply of fresh troops wherever occasion required, and acquainted him that matters were safe on the left wing, and that Cornelius Servius, whom he had despatched for the purpose, would quickly assail the enemy on all sides with his cavalry. Scarcely had he uttered these words, when the Roman horse, pushing forwards into the midst of their ranks, threw the line of infantry into confusion; and at the same time closed up the Edition: current; Page: [91] passes by which the Spanish horse were to have advanced to a charge. The Spaniards, therefore, quitting all thoughts of fighting on horseback, dismounted, in order to engage on foot. When the Roman generals perceived the enemy’s disorder, that they were confused and terrified, and their battalions wavering, they encouraged, they entreated, their men, to “push them briskly while they were dismayed, and not to suffer their line to be formed again.” The barbarians could not have withstood so furious an onset, had not their prince, Indibilis, dismounting with the cavalry, thrown himself into the front of the foremost battalions of infantry. There the contest was supported for some time with great fury. At length, those who fought round the King, fell, overwhelmed with darts, and he himself, continuing to make resistance, though ready to expire, was pinned to the earth with a javelin; on which their troops betook themselves to flight in all parts. The number of the slain was the greater, because the horsemen had not time to remount their horses, being vigorously pressed by the Romans, who did not relax in the least until they had driven them from their camp. There fell on that day of the Spaniards thirteen thousand, and about eight hundred were taken. Of the Romans, and their allies, little more than two hundred were killed, most of them in the left wing. The Spaniards, who were beaten out of the camp, or who had escaped from the battle, at first dispersed about the country, and afterwards returned to their respective homes. They were soon after summoned thence to an assembly by Mandonius, where, after complaining heavily of their losses, and severely censuring the advisers of the war, they came to a resolution, that ambassadors should be sent to Scipio, with proposals to make surrender of themselves. These laid the blame on Indibilis and the other chiefs, most of whom had fallen in battle, offering to deliver up their arms. They received for answer, that “their surrender would be accepted; Edition: current; Page: [92] provided they delivered up alive Mandonius and the other promoters of the war; that if this condition was not complied with, the Romans would lead their armies into the lands of the Illegertians and Ausetanians; and afterwards into those of the other states.” This answer the ambassadors carried back to the assembly; and there Mandonius and the other chiefs were seized and delivered up to punishment. Terms of peace were then settled with the states of Spain, who were ordered to pay double taxes for that year, and to supply corn for six months, together with cloaks and vests for the army, hostages being received from about thirty states. This tumultuary rebellion in Spain having been thus suppressed, without any great difficulty, within the space of a few days after its commencement, every warlike operation was directed against Africa.

IV. Caius Lælius, having arrived in the night at Hippo Royal, led out his soldiers and marines in regular bodies, at the first light, in order to ravage the country; and, as the inhabitants had taken no precautions more than if it had been a time of peace, great damage was done, and affrighted messengers filled Carthage with the most violent alarms; affirming, that the Roman fleet had arrived, and that it was commanded by Scipio, of whose passing into Sicily they had already heard. Nor could they tell, with any degree of exactness, while their fears aggravated every circumstance, how many ships they had seen, or what number of men they had landed. At first, therefore, consternation and terror, afterwards melancholy dejection, seized the people’s minds, reflecting on the reverse of fortune which had taken place, and lamenting that “they who lately, flushed with success, had their forces lying at the gates of Rome, and after cutting off so many armies of the enemy, had made almost every state in Italy submit to them, either through fear or choice, were now, from the current of success having turned against them, Edition: current; Page: [93] to behold the devastation of Africa, and the siege of Carthage; and when they possessed not by any means such a degree of strength as the Romans had enjoyed to support them under those calamities. The latter had received, from the commonalty of Rome, and from Latium, continually increasing supplies of young men in the room of so many legions destroyed: but the citizens of Carthage were unwarlike, and equally so in the country. Auxiliaries, indeed, they had procured for pay from among the Africans; but they were a faithless race, and veering about with every blast of fortune. Then, as to the kings: Syphax, since his conference with Scipio, was apparently estranged from them: Masinissa had openly renounced their alliance, and was become their most inveterate enemy; so that they had no hope, no support on any side. Neither did Mago raise any commotions on the side of Gaul, nor join his forces to Hannibal’s: and Hannibal himself was now declining both in reputation and strength.” Their minds, which, in consequence of the late news, had sunk into these desponding reflections, were again recalled, by dread of the impending evils, to consult how they might oppose the present dangers. They resolved to levy soldiers with all haste, both in the city and the country; to hire auxiliaries from the Africans; to strengthen the forts; to collect corn; to prepare weapons and armour; to fit out ships, and send them to Hippo against the Roman fleet. While they were thus employed, news at length arrived, that it was Lælius, and not Scipio, who had come over; that his forces were no more than what were sufficient to make plundering incursions; and that the main force of the enemy was still in Sicily. Thus they got time to breathe, and began to despatch embassies to Syphax and the other princes, to endeavour to strengthen their alliances. They also sent to Philip, with a promise of two hundred talents of Edition: current; Page: [94] silver*, on condition that he invaded Sicily or Italy. Others were sent to Italy, to their two generals there, with orders to use every effort to raise the apprehensions of the enemy, so that Scipio might be induced to return home. To Mago they sent not only deputies, but twenty-five ships of war, six thousand foot, eight hundred horse, seven elephants, and also a large sum of money to hire auxiliaries, whose support might encourage him to advance his army nearer to the city of Rome, and effect a junction with Hannibal. Such were the preparations and plans at Carthage. Whilst Lælius was employed in carrying off immense booty from the country, which he found destitute of arms and protection, Masinissa, roused by the report of the arrival of a Roman fleet, came to him attended by a few horsemen. He complained, that “Scipio was dilatory in the business; otherwise before that time he would have brought over his army into Africa, while the Carthaginians were dismayed, and Syphax engaged in wars with his neighbours. That the latter was irresolute and undetermined; and that if time were allowed him to settle his own affairs as he liked, it would be seen that he had no sincere attachment to the Romans.” He desired him to “exhort and stimulate Scipio to activity;” assuring him, that “himself, though driven from his kingdom, would join him with no contemptible force, both of horse and foot.” He said, that “Lælius ought not to make any stay in Africa: that he believed a fleet had sailed from Carthage, which it would not be very safe to encounter in the absence of Scipio.” After this discourse, Masinissa departed; and next day Lælius set sail from Hippo, having his ships laden with spoil; and, returning to Sicily, delivered Masinissa’s message to Scipio.

V. About the same time, the ships which had been sent from Carthage to Mago, arrived on the coast between the Edition: current; Page: [95] country of the Albingaunian Ligurians and Genoa, near which place the Carthaginian happened at that time to lie with his fleet. On receiving orders from the deputies to collect as great a number of troops as possible, he immediately held a council of the Gauls and Ligurians, (for there was a vast multitude of both nations present,) and told them that “he had been sent for the purpose of restoring them to liberty, and, as they themselves saw, aid was now afforded him from home. But with what force, with how great an army the war was to be carried on, was a matter that depended entirely upon them. That there were two Roman armies, one in Gaul, another in Etruria; and he was well assured that Spurius Lucretius would join his forces to those of Marcus Livius; wherefore they on their side must arm many thousands, to enable them to oppose two Roman generals and two armies.” The Gauls answered, that “they had the strongest inclination to act as he advised; but as they had one Roman army in the heart of their country, and another in the next adjoining province of Etruria, almost within their sight, if it should be publicly known that they gave aid to the Carthaginians, those two armies would immediately commence hostilities against them on both sides.” They requested him to “demand such assistance only as the Gauls could supply in secret. The Ligurians,” they said, “were at liberty to determine as they thought fit, the Roman camps being far distant from their lands and cities; beside, it was reasonable that they should arm their youth, and take their part in the war.” This the Ligurians did not decline; they only required two months time to make their levies. Mago, having sent home the Gauls, hired soldiers privately in their country; provisions also of all kinds were sent to him secretly by their several states. Marcus Livius led his army of volunteer slaves from Etruria into Gaul, and having joined Edition: current; Page: [96] Lucretius, kept himself in readiness to oppose Mago, if he should move from Liguria towards the city; intending, if the Carthaginian should keep himself quiet under that corner of the Alps, to continue in the same district, near Ariminum, for the protection of Italy.

VI. After the return of Caius Lælius from Africa, although Scipio was urged to expedition by the representations of Masinissa, and the soldiers, on seeing the spoil which was landed from the ships, were inflamed with a desire of passing over immediately; yet this more important business was interrupted by one of smaller consideration, the recovery of Locri; which, at the time of the general defection of Italy, had revolted to the Carthaginians. The hope of accomplishing this was kindled by a very trifling circumstance: The operations in Bruttium were rather predatory excursions than a regular war; the Numidians having begun the practice, and the Bruttians readily joining in it, not more from their connection with the Carthaginians, than from their own natural disposition. At length the Romans themselves, by a kind of contagion, became equally fond of plunder; and, when not prevented by their officers, made excursions into the enemy’s country. By these, some Locrensians, who had come out of the city, had been surrounded, and carried off to Rhegium; and among whom were some artizans, who happened to have been often hired by the Carthaginians, to work in the citadel of Locri. They were known by the chiefs of the Locrensians, who, having been banished by the opposite faction which had given up the city to Hannibal, had retired to Rhegium. The prisoners, after answering many of their enquiries concerning affairs at home, gave them hopes, that if they were ransomed and sent back, they might be able to put the citadel into their hands; telling them that they had their residence in it, and were entirely trusted by the Carthaginians. In consequence of this, the said chiefs, who anxiously longed to return to Locri, Edition: current; Page: [97] inflamed at the same time with a desire of revenge, immediately ransomed and sent home these men: having first settled the plan for the execution of their project, with the signals which were to be given and observed between them at a distance. They then went themselves to Scipio, to Syracuse, where some of the exiles were, and informing him of the promises made by the prisoners, inspired probable hopes of success. On this, the consul despatched Marcus Sergius and Publius Matienus, military tribunes, (the exiles accompanying them,) with orders to lead three thousand men from Rhegium to Locri, and for Quintus Pleminius, proprætor, to give assistance in the business. These set out as commanded, carrying scaling ladders fitted to the height of the citadel, according to their information, and about midnight they gave the signal from the place appointed, to those who were to betray that fortress. These were prepared, and on the watch; and, letting down from their side, machines made for the purpose, received the Romans as they climbed up in several places at once. They then fell on the Carthaginian centinels, who, not apprehending any danger, were fast asleep; their dying groans were the first sound heard. A sudden consternation followed as the remainder awoke, with a general confusion from being wholly ignorant of the cause of alarm. At length, the greater part of them being roused from sleep, the truth was discovered. And now every one called loudly to arms; that the enemy were in the citadel; that the centinels were slain. The Romans being much inferior in number, would certainly have been overpowered, had not a shout, raised by those who were at the outside of the citadel, prevented the garrison from discerning on what side the danger threatened, while the darkness of the night aggravated every fear. The Carthaginians, supposing that the citadel had been surprised and taken, without attempting a contest, fled to another fortress not far distant from this. The inhabitants held the Edition: current; Page: [98] city which lay between these strong holds, as a prize for the conquerors, slight engagements happening every day. Quintus Pleminius commanded the Roman, Hamilcar the Carthaginian garrison, both of whom increased their forces daily, by calling in aid from the neighboring places. At length Hannibal prepared to come thither, so that the Romans could not have kept their ground, had not the principal part of the Locrensians, exasperated by the pride and avarice of the Carthaginians, inclined to their side.

VII. As soon as Scipio was informed that the danger increased at Locri, and that Hannibal was approaching, he began to fear, lest even the garrison might be endangered, as it was not easy to retreat from it; he therefore left the command at Messana to his brother, Lucius Scipio, and going on board as soon as the tide turned, he let his ships drive with the current. On the other hand, Hannibal sent forward directions from the river Aleces, which is not far from Locri, that his party, at dawn of day, should attack the Romans and Locrensians with their whole force; in order that, while the attention of all should be turned to the tumult occasioned thereby, he might make an unexpected assault on the opposite side of the city. When, at the first appearance of daylight, he found that the battle was begun, he did not choose to attempt the citadel, in which there was not room, had he even gained it, for such numbers to act, nor had he brought ladders to effect a scalade. Ordering, therefore, the baggage to be thrown together in a heap, he drew up his army at a little distance from the walls, to terrify the enemy; and while all things necessary for the assault were getting ready, he rode round the city with some Numidian horsemen to find out the properest place at which it might be made. As he advanced near the rampart, the person next to him happening to be struck by a dart from a scorpion, he was so terrified at the danger to which he had been exposed, that he ordered a retreat Edition: current; Page: [99] to be sounded, and fortified his camp far beyond the reach of a weapon. The Roman fleet arrived from Messana at Locri, while some hours of day remained, so that the troops were all landed and brought into the city before sunset. Next day, the Carthaginians, from the citadel, began the fight. Hannibal, now furnished with scaling ladders, and every thing proper for an assault, was coming up to the walls, when, on a sudden, a gate flying open, the Romans rushed out upon him, when he apprehended nothing less than such an encounter, and, as the attack was unexpected, two hundred of his men were slain. The rest Hannibal carried back to the camp, as soon as he understood that the consul was there in person; and sending directions to those who were in the lesser citadel, to take care of themselves, he decamped by night. On which, setting fire to the houses there, in order to obstruct any operations of the enemy, they hastened away, as if flying from a pursuit, and overtook the main body of their army at the close of day.

VIII. When Scipio saw both citadel and camp deserted by the enemy, he summoned the Locrensians to an assembly, rebuked them severely for their revolt, inflicted punishment on the chief promoters of it, and bestowed their effects on the leaders of the opposite faction, as a reward for their extraordinary fidelity towards the Romans. As to the community of the Locrensians, he said, “he would neither make any grant to them, nor take any thing from them. Let them send ambassadors to Rome, where they would obtain such a settlement of their affairs as the senate should judge reasonable. Of this he was confident, that, though they had deserved harsh treatment from the greatly provoked Romans, they would yet enjoy a better state in subjection to them than under their professed friends the Carthaginians.” Then, leaving Quintus Pleminius, lieutenant-general, with the troops which had taken the citadel, to defend the city, he returned Edition: current; Page: [100] to Messana with the forces which he had brought from thence. The Locrensians, after their revolt from the Romans, had been treated by the Carthaginians with such haughtiness and cruelty, that they could now have endured a lesser degree of severity not only with patience, but almost with content. But in all excesses, so much did Pleminius surpass Hamilcar, who had commanded their garrison, and the Roman soldiers the Carthaginians, that there seemed to be a greater emulation between them in vices than in arms. Not one of those acts, which render the power of a superior odious to the helpless, was left unpractised on the inhabitants by the commander or his troops: the most shocking insults were offered to their persons, to their children, and to their wives. Nor did their avarice refrain even from the plundering of things sacred; insomuch, that not only the temples were violated, but even the treasure of Proserpine was seized, which through all ages had remained untouched, except by Pyrrhus, who made restitution of the spoil, together with a large atonement for his sacrilege. Therefore, as at that time the King’s ships, after being wrecked and shattered, had brought nothing safe to land, except the sacred money of the goddess, so now, that same money, by a different kind of vengeance, inspired with madness all those who were polluted by the robbery of the temple, and turned them against each other with hostile fury, general against general, soldier against soldier.

IX. Pleminius was governor in chief; that part of the soldiers which he had brought with him from Rhegium were under his own immediate command; the rest under military tribunes. These tribunes, Sergius and Matienus, happened to meet one of Pleminius’s soldiers running away with a silver cup, which he had taken by force out of the house of a citizen, the owners pursuing him: on the cup being taken from him, by order of the tribunes, at first ill language was Edition: current; Page: [101] used, then ensued clamour; and at length a scuffle between the soldiers of Pleminius and those of the tribunes. The disturbance increasing, as any happened to come up to assist their party, Pleminius’s men, being worsted, ran to him in crowds, showing their blood and wounds, with violent outcries and expressions of resentment, and recounting the reproaches that had been thrown on himself; which so inflamed him, that, rushing out of his house, and calling the tribunes before him, he ordered them to be stripped, and the rods to be prepared. As some time was spent in stripping them, (for they made resistance, and implored aid,) on a sudden their own soldiers, rendered bold by their late success, ran together from all parts, as if they had been called to arms against an enemy. On seeing the persons of the tribunes already injured by the rods, they were suddenly seized with such ungovernable rage, that without regard either to his dignity, or even to humanity, after having cruelly abused his lictors, they assaulted the general himself; and having surrounded and separated him from his party, they dreadfully mangled him, cuting off his nose and ears, and leaving him almost without life. Accounts of these transactions being carried to Messana, Scipio, a few days after, sailed over to Locri in a ship of six banks of oars: and having brought Pleminius and the tribunes to trial before him, he acquitted Pleminius, and continued him in the command of the place; adjudged the tribunes guilty, and threw them into chains, that they might be sent to Rome to the senate: he then returned to Messana, and went from thence to Syracuse. Pleminius, giving a loose to his rage, because he thought that the injury done him had been treated too lightly by Scipio, and that no other person was qualified to rate the penalty in such a case but he who had suffered the wrong, ordered the tribunes to be dragged before him. After having made them undergo the utmost degree of torture which the human body is capable of Edition: current; Page: [102] enduring, he put them to death; and not satisfied with the punishment thus inflicted, he cast them out without burial. The like cruelty he used towards the chiefs of the Locrensians, who, as he heard, had complained to Scipio of the treatment they had received at his hands. But the extreme severities which he had formerly practised on those allies through lust and avarice, he now multiplied through rage and resentment, bringing infamy and detestation not only on himself, but on the general also.

X. The time of the elections was now drawing near, when a letter was brought to Rome from Publius Licinius the consul, stating, that “he and his army were afflicted with a grievous sickness, and that they could not have stood their ground, had not the disorder attacked the enemy with the same, or even greater, violence. As therefore he could not come to the elections, he would, if the Fathers approved of it, nominate Quintus Cæcilius Metellus, dictator, for the purpose of holding them. That it was for the interest of the state, that the army of Quintus Cæcilius should be disbanded, as it could be of no use at present. Hannibal having already retired into winter-quarters; and besides, so powerful was the distemper in that camp, that unless they were speedily separated, not one of them probably would survive.” The senate left it with the consul to determine concerning those matters, in such manner as he should judge best for the good of the nation, and his own honour. The city was at that time suddenly engaged in a consideration respecting religion. Frequent showers of stones having fallen, the Sibylline books were on that occasion inspected; in which were found certain verses, importing, that “whensoever a foreign enemy shall have carried war into the land of Italy, he may be expelled and conquered, if the Idæan Mother be brought from Pessinus to Rome.” These verses, discovered by the decemvirs, affected the senate the more, because the ambassadors Edition: current; Page: [103] who had carried the offering to Delphi, affirmed also, that they had performed sacrifice, and consulted the Pythian Apollo; and that the oracle had answered, that the Romans would soon obtain a much greater victory than that which gave them the spoils of which their offering was composed. They considered as a confirmation of the same, that Scipio’s mind was impelled, as it were, by some presages of an end to the war, when he had so earnestly insisted on having Africa for his province. In order, therefore, that they might the sooner acquire the enjoyment of this triumph, portended to them by the fates, omens, and oracles, they set about considering how the goddess might be transported to Rome.

XI. The Romans were not in alliance with any of the states of Asia. However, recollecting that Æsculapius had formerly, on occasion of a pestilence, been brought from Greece before any connexion with that country; that they had already commenced a friendship with King Attalus, on account of their being united in the war against Philip, and that he would probably do any thing in his power to oblige the Roman people, they came to a resolution of sending as ambassadors to him, Marcus Valerius Lævinus, who had been twice consul, and had commanded in Greece; Marcus Cæcilius Metellus, who had been prætor; Servius Sulpicius Galba, who had been ædile; and two who had been quæstors, Caius Tremellius Flaccus and Marcus Valerius Falto. A convoy of five quinqueremes was ordered for them, that they might appear with suitable grandeur in those countries where they wished to procure a respect for the Roman name. The ambassadors in their way to Asia, having landed and gone to Delphi to the oracle, enquired what hopes might be entertained of accomplishing the business on which they had been sent: they were answered, it is said, that “they would obtain what they were in search of by means of King Attalus; and that, when they should have carried the Goddess Edition: current; Page: [104] to Rome, they were to take care that the best man in the city was the exerciser of the laws of hospitality towards her.” On coming to the King at Pergamus, he received them kindly, conducted them to Pessinus in Phrygia, delivered to them the sacred stone, which the natives said was the mother of the gods, and desired them to convey it to Rome. Marcus Valerius Falto, being sent homeward before the rest, brought an account that they were returning with the goddess; and that the best man in Rome must be sought out to pay her the due rites of hospitality. Quintus Cæcilius Metellus was, by the consul in Bruttium, nominated dictator, for the purpose of holding the elections, and his army was disbanded. Lucius Veturius Philo was made master of the horse. The elections were held by the dictator; the consuls elected were Marcus Cornelius Cethegus and Publius Sempronius Tuditanus, the latter absent, being employed in the province of Greece. The prætors were then elected: Tiberius Claudius Nero, Marcus Marcius Ralla, Lucius Scribonius Libo, and Marcus Pomponius Matho. As soon as the elections were finished, the dictator resigned his office. The Roman games were repeated thrice, the plebeian seven times. The curule ædiles were Cneius and Lucius Cornelius Lentulus; Lucius held the province of Spain, and being elected while there, continued absent during the whole time of his office. Tiberius Claudius Asellus and Marcus Junius Pennus were plebeian ædiles. In that year Marcus Marcellus dedicated the temple of Virtue, at the Capuan gate, seventeen years after it had been vowed by his father at Clastidium in Gaul, during his first consulate. Marcus Æmilius Regillus, flamen of Mars, died that year.

XII. During the two last years, the affairs of Greece had been neglected: a circumstance which enabled Philip to reduce the Ætoliaus, thus forsaken by the Romans, on whose aid alone they relied. They were therefore obliged to sue Edition: current; Page: [105] for, and agree to a peace on such terms as the King should impose: but had he not used every effort to hasten the conclusion of it, Publius Sempronius, proconsul, who succeeded Sulpicius in the command, would have fallen upon him (while engaged in settling the treaty) with ten thousand foot, one thousand horse, and thirty-five ships of war; no small force in support of an ally. The peace was scarcely concluded, when news was brought to Philip that the Romans had come to Dyrrachium; that the Parthinians, and other neighbouring nations, seeing a prospect of changing their situation, were in motion, and that Dimallum was besieged. The Romans had turned their operations to that side, instead of going forward to the assistance of the Ætolians, whither they had been sent, provoked at the peace thus made with the King without their concurrence, and contrary to the treaty. On the receipt of this news, Philip, fearing lest some greater commotions might arise among the neighbouring nations and states, proceeded by long marches to Apollonia, to which place Sempronius had retired, after sending his lieutenant-general, Lætorius, with part of the forces and fifteen ships, to Ætolia, that he might take a view of the situation of affairs, and, if possible, annihilate the compact of that people with the Macedonian. Philip laid waste the lands of the Apollonians, and, marching his forces up to the city, offered the Romans battle; they, however, remained quiet, only defending the walls, while his force was insufficient for laying siege to the place. He was yet desirous of concluding a peace with the Romans, as with the Ætolians; or, if that could not be accomplished, of obtaining a truce; and, not choosing to provoke their resentment farther by a new contest, he withdrew into his own kingdom. At the same time the Epirots, wearied by the length of the war, having first tried the disposition of the Romans, sent ambassadors to Edition: current; Page: [106] Philip concerning a general peace; affirming that they were very confident it might be brought about, if he would come to a conference with Publius Sempronius, the Roman general. They easily prevailed on him to pass into Epirus, for the King himself was not averse from the measure. There is a city in Epirus called Phœnice; there Philip, having conferred with Eropus, and Dardas, and Philip, prætors of the Epirots, had afterwards a meeting with Publius Sempronius. Amynander also, King of the Athamanians, was present at the conference, together with other magistrates of the Epirots and Acarnanians. Philip the prætor spoke first, and entreated both the King and the Roman general to put an end to hostilities; and to consider, in a favourable light, the liberty which the Epirots took in mediating between them. Publius Sempronius dictated the terms of peace;—That the Parthinians, and Dimallum, and Bargulum, and Eugenium, should be under the dominion of the Romans; that Atintania should be ceded to the Macedonian, if, on sending ambassadors, he should obtain it from the senate. Peace being agreed to on these terms, the King included in the treaty Prusias King of Bithynia, the Achæans, Bœotians, Thessalians, Acarnanians, and Epirots. On the side of the Romans, were included the Ilians, King Attalus, Pleuratus, Nabis, tyrant of the Lacedæmonians, the Eleans, Messenians, and Athenians. The conditions were committed to writing, and signed by both parties, a truce being made for two months, to allow time for ambassadors to be sent to Rome, in order that the people might ratify the whole. Every one of the tribes assented to it, because, having turned their efforts against Africa, they wished to be eased for the present from every other enemy. When all was settled, Publius Sempronius went home to Rome, to attend to the duties of his consulship.

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Y.R.548. bc204.XIII. In the consulate of Marcus Cornelius and Publius Sempronius, which was the fifteenth year of the Punic war, the provinces were thus decreed:—to Cornelius, Etruria, with the old army; to Sempronius, Bruttium, with power to levy new legions. Of the prætors, to Marcus Marcius fell the city jurisdiction; to Lucius Scribonius Libo, the foreign, and to the same person, Gaul; to Marcus Pomponius Matho, Sicily; and to Tiberius Claudius Nero, Sardinia. Publius Scipio’s command was prolonged for a year, with the same army and the same fleet he then had: as was also that of Publius Licinius, who was ordered to hold Bruttium, with two legions, as long as the consul should judge it to be for the interest of the state that he should continue in that province. Marcus Livius, and Spurius Lucretius, also held on their commissions, with the two legions with which they had protected Gaul against Mago; and likewise Cneius Octavius, who, after delivering up Sardinia and the legion to Tiberius Claudius, was, with forty ships of war, to defend the sea-coast, within such limits as the senate should appoint. To Marcus Pomponius, prætor in Sicily, two legions of the forces that had been at Cannæ were decreed; and it was ordered that, of the proprætors Titus Quintius and Caius Hostilius Tubulus), the former should hold Tarentum, the latter Capua, as in the former year, each with the old garrison. With respect to Spain, it was referred to the people to determine on the two proconsuls who should be sent thither; when all the tribes agreed in ordering Lucius Cornelius Lentulus, and Lucius Manlius Acidinus, in quality of proconsuls, to hold the command of that province in the same manner as they had held it the year before. The consuls gave directions for a levy of soldiers, out of whom they might at once form the new legions for Bruttium, and fill up the numbers of the other armies; for such were the orders of the senate.

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XIV. Africa had not yet been publicly declared a province,—the senate, I suppose, keeping the matter secret, lest the Carthaginians should get intelligence of it. The city, however, was filled with sanguine hopes that a decisive blow would soon be struck on that shore, and that there would be an end to the Punic war. From this cause arose abundance of superstitious notions; and the minds of the people became disposed both to believe and to propagate accounts of prodigies, of which a very great number were reported: “that two suns had been seen, and that in the night-time light had suddenly appeared: that, at Setia, a blaze like that of a torch had been observed, extending from east to west: that, at Tarracina, a gate, and, at Anagnia, both a gate, and several parts of the wall, had been struck by lightning: that in the temple of Juno Sospita, at Lanuvium, a great noise had been heard, succeeded by a dreadful crash.” For the expiation of these there was a supplication of one day’s continuance; and nine days were set apart for religious offices, on account of a shower of stones that had fallen. In addition to these matters, they had to consult on the reception to be given to the Idæan Mother. For, besides the account brought by Marcus Valerius, (one of the ambassadors, who had come before the rest,) that the goddess would soon be in Italy, a late account had been received, that she was at Tarracina. The senate also was engaged in the decision of a question of no trifling importance,—who was the best man in the city. A well-grounded preference in that point, every one would certainly value, much more highly than any honours which could be conferred by the votes either of the senate or the people. They gave their judgment, that Publius Scipio, son of Cneius who had fallen in Spain, (a youth who had not yet attained a quæstorship,) was the best of all the good men in Rome. If the authors who wrote in the times nearest to this transaction, and when the memory of it was fresh, had Edition: current; Page: [109] mentioned the particular merits which induced them to make this determination, I should gladly have handed down the information to posterity: but I will not obtrude any opinion of my own, formed, as it must be, on conjecture, when relative to a matter buried in the obscurity of remote antiquity. Publius Cornelius was accordingly ordered to repair to Ostia, to meet the goddess, attended by all the matrons; to receive her himself from the ship, and then to deliver her to the said matrons, to be transported to the city. Scipio, falling down the river Tiber, as had been ordered, received the goddess from the priests, and conveyed her to the land. She was there received by the above-mentioned women, and who were the principal of the city, among whom the name of Claudia Quinta alone has been distinguished; for her character, as is said, having at one time been dubious, the share which she had in this solemn act of religion rendered her chastity no longer questionable, and she became illustrious among posterity. These, relieving each other in succession, carried this saving divinity into the temple of Victory, on the Palatine hill, whilst all the city poured out to meet her, censers being placed before the doors, wherever the procession passed, and incense burned in them; all praying that she would enter the city with good will, and a favourable disposition. This happened on the day preceding the ides of April; and which was appointed a festival. The people in crowds carried presents to the goddess, and there was a religious feast ordained, with games called Megalesian.

XV. When they came to consider of the supplies for the legions that were in the provinces, it was suggested by certain of the senators, that there were some things, which, however they might have been tolerated in times of distress, ought not to be any longer endured; since, by the favour of the gods, they had been delivered from the apprehension of Edition: current; Page: [110] danger. The attention of the fathers being roused, they proceeded to mention, that the twelve Latine colonies, which had refused a supply of soldiers to Quintus Fabius, and Quintus Fulvius, when consuls, enjoyed now, for almost the sixth year, an immunity from serving in war; as if it had been a privilege granted to do them honour, and on account of their good conduct, while the worthy and dutiful allies, in return for their fidelity and obedience, had been exhausted by continual levies through the course of many years. These words at once recalled to the recollection of the senate, a matter which had been almost forgotten, and at the same time roused their resentment; so that, before they suffered the consuls to proceed on any other business, they decreed, that “the consuls should summon to Rome the magistrates, and ten principal inhabitants from each of the following colonies, so privileged: Nepete, Sutrium, Ardæa, Gales, Alba, Carseoli, Sara, Suessa, Setia, Circæa, Narnia, and Interamna; and should give them orders, that whatever was the greatest number of soldiers, which they had separately furnished to the Roman people, at any time, since the enemy came into Italy, they should now provide to the amount of twice that number of footmen, and one hundred and twenty horsemen: and if any of them were unable to produce so many horsemen, that then they should be allowed to bring three footmen, instead of each horseman. That both horsemen and footmen should be chosen from among the wealthiest orders, and should be sent wherever there was occasion for a supply out of Italy. That if any of them should refuse to comply with this requisition, it was their pleasure, that the magistrates and deputies of that colony should be detained; and if they demanded an audience of the senate, that it should not be granted them, until they had obeyed those injunctions; and farther, that an annual tax of one as on every thousand which they possessed, should be imposed on them. That a Edition: current; Page: [111] survey of persons and estates should be made in those colonies, according to a regulation of the Roman censors, which should be the same that was directed for the Roman people, and a return of this made at Rome by the censors of the said colonies on their oaths, and before they went out of office.” The magistrates and principal inhabitants of the places in question being summoned to Rome, in pursuance of this decree of the senate, and receiving the commands of the consuls respecting the soldiers and the tax, they all declared violently against them, exclaiming, “that it was impossible for them to raise such a number of soldiers; that they could scarcely accomplish it if their whole property were to be estreated by the regulation. They begged and entreated that they might be allowed to appear before the senate, and implore a mitigation of their sentence. They had been guilty of no crime, that deserved to be punished by their ruin; but, even if they were to be ruined, neither their own guilt, nor the resentment of the Roman people, could make them furnish a greater number of soldiers than they actually had.” The consuls, unmoved, ordered the deputies to remain at Rome, and the magistrates to go home, to make the levies, assuring them, that “they should have no audience of the senate, until they had strictly fulfilled its orders.” Their hopes of obtaining an audience being thus cut off, the levies were completed without difficulty; the number of young men in those colonies being much increased, by their having been so long exempt from service.

XVI. Another affair also, and which had been almost as long passed over in silence, was proposed for consideration by Marcus Valerius Lævinus; who said, “it was highly reasonable that the several sums of money, which had been contributed by private persons, when Marcus Claudius and himself were consuls, should now be repaid. That no one ought to be surprised, at his thus appearing in an affair Edition: current; Page: [112] wherein the public faith was pledged; for, besides that, in some respect it peculiarly concerned the consul of that year in which the money had been advanced; he had also been the first adviser of the same, on account of the emptiness of the treasury, and the inability of the people to pay taxes.” The senate were well pleased at being reminded of this matter, and the consuls being ordered to propose the question, decreed, that “money should be discharged in three payments: that the present consuls should make the first payment immediately; and that the other two instalments should be made by the third and fifth consuls from that time.” All their cares soon after gave place to one alone, when, on the arrival of ambassadors, they were made acquainted with the grievances of the Locrensians, of which, until that day, they had been ignorant; grievances which greatly disturbed the people, who were, however, less provoked at the villany of Quintus Pleminius, than at the partiality or negligence shown in the business by Scipio. As the consuls were sitting in the comitium, ten ambassadors of the Locrensians in squalid mourning apparel, holding out branches of olive (the badges of suppliants) according to the Grecian custom, prostrated themselves on the ground before the tribunal with lamentable cries. On inquiring who they were, they answered, that “they were Locrensians, who had experienced such treatment from Quintus Pleminius, the lieutenant-general, and his soldiers, as the Roman people would not wish even the Carthaginians to suffer; and that they requested the favour of being admitted to an audience of the senate, that they might represent to them their deplorable situation.”

XVII. An audience being granted, the eldest of them spoke to this effect: “Conscript Fathers, I know that it would tend exceedingly to increase the regard which you may think proper to afford to our complaints, if you were fully informed of the manner in which Locri was betrayed to Hannibal, and also by what means the Carthaginian garrison Edition: current; Page: [113] was expelled, and the town re-established under your dominion. For if the people, generally taken, were entirely clear of the guilt of the revolt, and if it also appeared, that our return to obedience, and to acknowledgment of your authority, was not only voluntary, but effected by our own co-operation and courage, you would feel the greater indignation at such grievous and unmerited injuries being inflicted on good and faithful allies, by your lieutenant-general and his soldiers. But I think it better to defer the subject of our changes of party to another time; and that for two reasons: first, that it may be discussed in the presence of Publius Scipio, who regained possession of Locri, and was a witness of our behaviour, whether good or bad; and secondly, that, let our conduct have been what it may, we ought not to have suffered the evils which have been poured on us. We cannot, Conscript Fathers, disown, that, while we had a Carthaginian garrison, we suffered many cruelties and indignities, as well from Hamilcar the commander there, as from the Numidians and Africans. But what are these, when compared with what we this day endure? I request, Conscript Fathers, that you will hear without being offended, what I unwillingly mention. All mankind are in suspense whether they are to see you or the Carthaginians sovereigns of the world. Now, if an estimation were to be formed of the Roman and Carthaginian governments, from the treatment which we of Locri have borne on the one hand, and from that which on the other we at this present time bear, without remission, from your garrison, there is no one who would not rather choose Africans than Romans for his masters. Yet, observe what dispositions the Locrensians have, notwithstanding, shown towards you. When we were ill-treated by the Carthaginians in a much less degree, we had recourse to your general for redress. Now, when we suffer from your garrison worse than hostile cruelty, we have carried our complaints to no other Edition: current; Page: [114] but to you. Conscript Fathers, you will consider our desperate situation, or we are left without any resource, for which we can even pray to the immortal gods. Quintus Pleminius, lieutenant-general, was sent with a body of troops to recover Locri from the Carthaginians, and was left with those troops to garrison the town. In this your officer, Conscript Fathers, (the extremity of our miseries gives me spirit to speak freely,) there is nothing of a man but the figure and appearance; nor of a Roman citizen, but the features, the dress, and the sound of the Latine language. He is a pestilent and savage monster; such, as fables tell us, formerly lay on each side of the streight which divides us from Sicily, causing the destruction of mariners. If, however, he had been content with practising his own atrocities alone against us your allies, that one gulf, however deep, we should patiently have filled up. As the case at present stands, he has made every one of your centurions and soldiers a Pleminius: so much does he wish to render licentiousness and wickedness universal. All rob, spoil, beat, wound, slay; ravish both matrons and virgins; while free-born children are torn from the embraces of their parents. Our city is every day stormed, every day plundered; all parts of it resound with the lamentations of women and children, who are seized and dragged away. Whoever knows our sufferings cannot but be surprised that we still subsist under them, and that our persecutors are not yet wearied. It is neither in my power to recapitulate, nor ought you to be troubled with hearing, the particulars of our calamities; I shall comprise them in general terms. I affirm that there is not one house, that there is not one man in Locri, exempt from injury; I affirm that there is no instance of cruelty, lust, or avarice, which has not been put in practice against every one capable of being the object of it. It is scarcely possible to estimate which was the more lamentable disaster to the city, its being taken Edition: current; Page: [115] in war by the enemy, or its being crushed under the violence and arms of a tyrant sent to protect it, yet bent on its destruction. Every evil, Conscript Fathers, which cities taken by storm suffer, we have suffered, and still continue to suffer, without remission. Every kind of barbarity which the most merciless and unreasonable tyrants practise against their oppressed countrymen, has Pleminius practised against us, our children, and our wives.

XVIII. “There is one thing, Conscript Fathers, concerning which we are obliged, by the regard to religion impressed on our minds, both to make a particular complaint, and to express our wish that you may think proper so to attend to the same, as to free your state from any guilt resulting from it: for we have seen with what due solemnity you not only worship your own, but even receive foreign deities. We have a temple of Proserpine, of extraordinary sanctity, of which probably some account may have reached you during the war with Pyrrhus: for in his return from Sicily, sailing near Locri with his fleet, among other violent outrages against our city, on account of our fidelity to you, he plundered the treasures of Proserpine, which, to that day, had ever remained untouched; and then putting the money on board his ships, he left the land. What was then the result, Conscript Fathers? His fleet was next day shattered by a most furious tempest, and all the vessels which carried the sacred treasure were thrown on our coasts. By the greatness of this calamity, that haughty King being at length convinced that there were gods, ordered all the money to be searched for, collected, and carried back to the treasury of Proserpine. Never afterwards was he successful in any one instance; but after being driven out of Italy, and having entered Argos inconsiderately by night, he fell by an ignoble hand; he met a dishonourable death. Although your lieutenant-general and military tribunes had heard these and many other such things, Edition: current; Page: [116] (which were not contrived for the purpose of increasing respect to the deity, but presented to the observation of our ancestors and selves, through the immediate influence of the goddess:) yet, notwithstanding this, I say, they dared to lay their impious hands on the treasures, till then untouched, except in the instance of Pyrrhus, and with the sacrilegious spoil to pollute themselves, their families, and your armies; whose service, we beseech you, Conscript Fathers, for your own sakes, for your honour’s sake, not to employ in any business, either in Italy or in Africa, until you have first expiated their guilt, lest they atone for the crimes which they have committed, not by their own blood merely, but by some public disaster: although, even at present, the anger of the goddess does not fail to show itself against both your officers and men. They have already, more than once, engaged each other in pitched battles: Pleminius was leader of one party, the two military tribunes of the other: never did they use their weapons with more eagerness against the Carthaginians, than on this occasion; and, by their mad proceedings, they would have afforded Hannibal an opportunity of recovering the possession of Locri, had not Scipio, whom we sent for, arrived in time to prevent it. It may be said, perhaps, that the subalterns who had been polluted by the sacrilege, were alone agitated with phrenzy, and that no influence of the goddess appeared in punishing the officers; whereas, in fact, it has been here most conspicuous. The tribunes were scourged with rods by the lieutenant-general; afterwards, the lieutenant-general was treacherously seized by the tribunes; and, his whole body being mangled, and his nose and ears cut off, he was left apparently lifeless. Recovering from his wounds, he threw the military tribunes into chains, scourged them, made them suffer every kind of torture usually inflicted only on slaves, put them to a cruel death, and then prohibited them the rites of burial. Such Edition: current; Page: [117] penalties has the goddess exacted from the plunderers of her temple; nor will she desist from harassing them with every kind of phrenzy, until the sacred money shall be replaced in the treasury. Our ancestors, being engaged in a grievous war with the Crotonians, intended, because this temple lies without the walls, to remove the money therein deposited into the city; when a voice was heard by night from the shrine, commanding them to desist; for that the goddess would defend her own treasures. This admonition arrested their hands; yet, when intending to surround the temple with a wall, and which they had raised to some height, it suddenly fell down in ruins. Thus, it is seen that not only now, but at several other times, the goddess has either secured her own habitation, her sacred fane; or has exacted heavy atonements from those who dared to violate it. Our injuries she cannot avenge; Conscript Fathers, it can alone be done by you. To you, and to your honour, we fly, and, as suppliants, implore relief. For whether you suffer Locri to continue under the present lieutenant-general and garrison, or deliver our countrymen up to Hannibal and the Carthaginians, to be punished as their anger may direct, it will be equally fatal to them. We do not require that you should, at once, give credit to us, and to charges made in the general’s absence, or without allowing him to make his defence: let him come, let him hear them in person; let him clear himself of them, if he can. In fine, if there be any act of iniquity which one man can commit against others, that he has not committed against us, we consent, if it be possible, again to endure our griefs, and that he shall be acquitted of all guilt towards both gods and men.”

XIX. When the ambassadors had concluded their discourse, being asked by Quintus Fabius, whether they had laid those complaints before Publius Scipio, they answered, that “an embassy had been sent to him; but that he was Edition: current; Page: [118] taken up with the preparations for the war: and that, either before this time, he had passed over into Africa, or would do so in a very few days. That they had experienced what great interest the lieutenant-general had with the commander, when, after hearing the cause between him and the tribunes, he threw the tribunes into chains, and left the lieutenant-general, who was equally guilty, or rather more so, in possession of the same power as before.” The ambassadors being ordered to withdraw, the principal senators inveighed severely not only against Pleminius, but against Scipio also; but, above all, Quintus Fabius, who asserted, that “he was born for the corruption of military discipline; that, through such conduct, he had lost, in Spain, nearly as many men by mutiny as in war; that he both indulged the licentiousness of the soldiers, and let his own passions loose against them, in a manner customary only among foreigners and kings.” To this speech he added a resolution equally harsh: that “they should pass a vote, that Quintus Pleminius, lieutenant-general, be brought to Rome, and stand his trial in chains: and that, if the complaints of the Locrensians should appear to be well founded, he should be put to death in prison, and his effects confiscated. That Publius Scipio, on account of his having gone out of his province without an order of the senate, should be recalled; and that application should be made to the tribunes of the commons, to take the sense of the people on the abrogating of his commission. That the Locrensians should be called in, and receive this answer from the senate: that, as to the injuries stated to have been done to them, neither the senate nor the people of Rome approved of their being done; that they should be complimented with the appellations of worthy men, allies, and friends; that their children, their wives, and whatever else had been taken from them by violence, should be restored; that a search should be made for the entire money which had been carried off Edition: current; Page: [119] from the temple of Proserpine, and that double the sum should be replaced in the treasury. That a solemn expiation should be performed, the college of pontiffs being first consulted on this question: inasmuch as the sacred treasures had been removed and violated, what atonements, to what gods, and with what victims, should they be made? That the soldiers who were at Locri should be all transported into Sicily; and that four cohorts of allies, of the Latine confederacy, should be brought to Locri for a garrison.” The collecting of the votes could not be finished that day, the zeal of the parties for and against Scipio rising to a great degree of warmth; for, besides the crime of Pleminius, and the calamities of the Locrensians, the general’s own manner of living was represented as so far from being Roman, that it was not even military: that “he walked in the public place, having a cloak and slippers; that he gave much of his time to books of entertainment, and the schools of exercise; and that his whole corps of officers, with equal indolence and effeminacy, indulged in all the pleasures of Syracuse; that Carthage was quite forgotten among them; that the whole army, (debauched and licentious, like that at Sucro in Spain, or that now at Locri,) was more formidable to the allies than to the enemy.”

XX. These representations were compounded of a mixture of truth and falsehood, yet carrying an appearance of the former. The opinion of Quintus Metellus, however, prevailed, who, concurring with Maximus in the other points, dissented from him in that concerning Scipio; affirming, that “it would be the height of inconsistency, if the person whom, when but a youth, the state had some time since made choice of as the only commander capable of recovering Spain; whom, after he had actually recovered it, they had elected consul for the purpose of putting an end to the Punic war, and whom they conceived able to draw away Hannibal from Italy, Edition: current; Page: [120] and even to subdue Africa:—that this man, as if he were Quintus Pleminius, should be, in a manner, condemned without a trial, and suddenly recalled from his province, he repeated, were highly inconsistent. The abominable facts which the Locrensians complain of, are not alleged to have been committed when Scipio was present; nor can any thing else be laid to his charge than the having been tender of the lieutenant-general, either through good nature or respect. That it was his opinion, that Marcus Pomponius, the prætor, to whose lot Sicily had fallen, should, within the next three days, repair to his province. That the consuls should choose out of the senate ten deputies, whom they should send along with the prætor, together with two tribunes of the people and an ædile; and that, with the assistance of this council, the prætor should make an inquiry into the affair. If it should be found that the oppressions of the Locrensians arose from the orders or with the approbation of Publius Scipio, that they should then command him to quit the province. If Publius Scipio should have already passed over into Africa, that in such case the tribunes of the commons and the ædile, with two of the deputies, whom the prætor should judge fittest, should immediately proceed thither: the tribunes and the ædile to bring back Scipio from thence; the deputies to command the forces until a new general should be appointed. But if Marcus Pomponius and the ten deputies should discover that those severities had not been committed, either by the order or with the approbation of Publius Scipio, that then Scipio should remain with the army, and carry on the war as he had proposed.” A decree of the senate having passed to this effect, application was made to the tribunes of the commons, to settle among themselves, or choose by lot, which two were to go with the prætor and deputies. The college of pontiffs were consulted about the expiations to be performed on account of the spoliation in the temple of Proserpine Edition: current; Page: [121] at Locri. Marcus Claudius Marcellus, and Marcus Cincius Alimentus, tribunes of the commons, accompanied the prætor and the ten deputies; with whom an ædile of the commons was also sent. The instructions were, that should Scipio (whether in Sicily or Africa) refuse to obey the orders of the prætor, the tribunes were to give directions to the ædile to apprehend and bring him home, under the authority of their inviolable office. It was intended that they should proceed first to Locri, and then to Messana.

XXI. Concerning Pleminius, there are two different accounts: some say, that, on hearing what had passed at Rome, he was going to Naples into exile, when he happened to meet Quintus Metellus, one of the deputies, and was by him forcibly carried back to Rhegium; others, that Scipio himself had sent a lieutenant-general, with thirty of the most distinguished among the cavalry, to throw Pleminius into chains, and also the principals in the mutiny. All these, however, either by the orders of Scipio before, or of the prætor now, were given in charge to the inhabitants of Rhegium, to be kept in custody. The prætor and deputies proceeding to Locri, applied their first care, as they had been directed, to the business respecting religion; and causing search to be made for all the sacred money, appropriated both by Pleminius and the soldiers, they replaced it in the treasury, together with the sum which they had brought with them, performing a solemn expiation. This done, the prætor calling the soldiers together, ordered them to carry the standards out of the city, and to form a camp in the plain; denouncing, by proclamation, severe penalties against any one who should either stay behind, or carry out with him any thing that was not his own property; at the same time authorising the Locrensians to seize whatever belonged to themselves, and to search for such of their effects as were concealed; above all insisting, that the freedom of their persons should be instantly Edition: current; Page: [122] admitted, with threats of heavy punishment against any one who should disobey this injunction. He then held an assembly of the Locrensians, and told them, that “the Roman people, and the senate, restored to them their liberty and their laws. That if any one meant to bring a charge against Pleminius, or any other person, he must follow them to Rhegium: or if their state had to prefer a complaint against Publius Scipio, as being the author of those crimes which had been perpetrated at Locri against gods and men, that they should then send deputies to Rhegium also, and that he, with the council, would there hear their cause.” The Locrensians returned thanks to the prætor, to the deputies, and to the senate and people of Rome; declaring “that they would prosecute Pleminius. That, as to Scipio, although he had shown but little feeling for the injuries done them, yet he was such a man as they would much rather have for their friend than their enemy. That they firmly believed, the many shocking cruelties which had been practised were neither by the orders or with the approbation of Publius Scipio, who had only given too much credit to Pleminius, too little to them: that some men’s natural disposition was such, that they showed rather a dislike to the commission of faults, than sufficient resolution to punish them, when committed.” This relieved the prætor and council from a heavy burthen, that of enquiring into the conduct of Scipio. They condemned Pleminius, with thirty-two others, whom they sent in chains to Rome; and then proceeded to Scipio, that, witnessing all matters, they might carry certain information to Rome as to the truth of those reports which had been propagated concerning his manner of living, inactivity, and total relaxation of military discipline.

XXII. While they were on their way to Syracuse, Scipio prepared, not words, but facts, to clear himself of any charges in the remission of duty. He ordered all the troops to assemble Edition: current; Page: [123] in that city, and the fleet to be got in readiness, as if, on that day, there was to be an engagement with the Carthaginians both on land and sea. On the arrival of the commissioners, he gave them a kind reception and entertainment, and next day showed them both the land and naval forces, not only marshalled in exact order, but the former performing their evolutions, and the fleet in the harbour exhibiting a representation of a naval combat. The prætor and deputies were then led round to take a view of the armories, granaries, and other warlike preparations; and with such admiration were they struck, of each in particular, and of the whole together, as to become thoroughly persuaded, that the Carthaginians would be vanquished by that general and that army, or by no other. They desired him to set out on his voyage, with the blessing of the gods; and to fulfil, as soon as possible, the hopes of the Roman people,—those hopes which they had conceived on that day, when all the centuries concurred in naming him first consul: saying this, they left the place, and with as much joy as if they were to carry to Rome the news of a victory, not of a grand preparation for war. Pleminius, and those who were in the same circumstances with him, were, on their arrival at Rome, immediately thrown into prison. When first produced by the tribunes, the people found no room for mercy, prepossessed as they were by the calamities of the Locrensians. However, after having been repeatedly brought forward, and the odium abating through length of time, the public resentment was softened; while the maimed condition of Pleminius, and the respect they had for Scipio, even in his absence, conciliated for them some degree of favour. Nevertheless, Pleminius died in confinement, and before his trial was finished. Clodius Licinius, in the third book of his Roman history, relates, indeed, that this Pleminius, during the votive games which Africanus, in his second consulate, exhibited at Rome, made Edition: current; Page: [124] an attempt, by means of some persons whom he had bribed, to set fire to the city in several places, that he might have an opportunity of breaking the prison, and making his escape; and that on the discovery of his wicked design, he was committed to the dungeon by order of the senate. Concerning Scipio, there were no proceedings but in the senate; where the encomiums made by all the deputies and the tribunes on that general, his fleet, and army, induced them to vote, that he should pass over into Africa as soon as possible; with liberty to make his own choice, from out the forces then in Sicily, which to carry with him, and which to leave for the defence of the province.

XXIII. During these transactions at Rome, the Carthaginians, on their side, passed the winter in extreme anxiety. They fixed beacons on every promontory; kept scouts in incessant motion, every messenger filling them with terror. They had acquired, however, an advantage of no small moment towards the defence of Africa,—an alliance with King Syphax; an assistance, on which they supposed the Romans to have relied, and as being their great inducement to set foot on Africa. Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, was not only connected with the King in hospitality, (as has been mentioned above, when he and Scipio happened to come to him at the same time from Spain,) but mention had been also made of an affinity to be contracted between them, by the King marrying Hasdrubal’s daughter. Hasdrubal had gone with a design of completing this business, and fixing a time for the nuptials, the damsel being now marriageable; and finding him inflamed with desire, (for the Numidians are, beyond all other barbarians, inclined to amorous pleasures,) he sent for her from Carthage, and hastened the wedding. Among other instances of mutual regard and affection, (and in order that their private connection might be cemented by a public one,) an alliance between the King and the people of Carthage Edition: current; Page: [125] was ratified by oath, and their faith reciprocally pledged that they would have the same friends and enemies. But Hasdrubal remembered that the King had previously entered into a league with Scipio, and knowing how unsteady and changeable were the minds of the barbarians, he dreaded lest, if Scipio once came into Africa, that match might prove a slender tie: he therefore seized the opportunity while the warmth of the Numidian’s new passion was at the highest; and calling to his aid the blandishments of his daughter, prevailed on him to send ambassadors into Sicily to Scipio, and by them to warn him, “not to be induced, by a reliance on his former promises, to pass over to Africa, for that he was now united to the people of Carthage, both by his marriage with a citizen of that state, daughter of Hasdrubal, whom he had seen entertained in his house, and also by a public treaty. He recommended it strongly to the Romans, to carry on the war against the Carthaginians, at a distance from Africa, as they had hitherto done; lest he might be under a necessity of interfering in their disputes, and of joining one or the other, while he wished to decline taking part with either. If Scipio should enter Africa, and advance his army towards Carthage, he must then of necessity fight, as well in defence of the country wherein he himself was born, as in support of the native city of his spouse, her parent, and household gods.”

XXIV. The ambassadors, charged with these despatches from the King to Scipio, had an interview with him at Syracuse. Scipio, though disappointed in a matter of the utmost consequence to the success of his affairs in Africa, and in the high expectations which he had entertained from that quarter, sent back the ambassadors speedily, before their business should become publicly known, and gave them a letter for the King, in which he conjured him, in the most forcible terms, not “to violate the laws of hospitality; nor the alliance which he had concluded with the Roman people; nor Edition: current; Page: [126] justice, nor faith, (their right hands pledged,) nor act in any thing offensive to the gods, the witnesses and guarantees of compacts.” The coming of the Numidians was generally known, for they had walked about the city, and had been frequently at the prætorium; so that it was feared, should the subject of their embassy transpire, that the troops might become alarmed at the prospect of being to fight against Syphax and the Carthaginians. Scipio judged it prudent, therefore, to divert their thoughts from the truth, by prepossessing them with false informations. Calling them to an assembly, he said, “that there was no room for longer delay; that the Kings, their allies, pressed him to pass over to Africa immediately. That Masinissa had before come in person to Lælius, complaining of time being wasted in inactivity; and that Syphax now sent despatches to the like effect; requiring, that either the troops should at length be carried over to Africa; or, if the plan was changed, that he should be made acquainted with it, in order that he might adopt such measures as would be convenient to himself and beneficial to his kingdom. Since, therefore, every preparation had been made, and as the business admitted no longer hesitation, it was his intention, after bringing over the fleet to Lilybæum, and assembling at that place all the forces of horse and foot, to pass into Africa, with the favour of the gods, the first day on which the ships could sail.” He sent a letter to Marcus Pomponius, to come to that port, in order that they might consult together as to what particular legions, and what number of men he should carry to Africa; with orders also to all the sea-coast, that the ships of burthen should be all seized, and brought thither. When the troops and vessels had assembled at Lilybæum, neither could the city contain the men, nor the barbour the ships; and such an ardent desire to pass into Africa possessed them all, that they appeared, not as if going to be employed in war, but in receiving the rewards of Edition: current; Page: [127] victory already secured; especially those of the army of Cannæ, for they expected, by exerting themselves on the present occasion, and under the then general, to put an end to their ignominious service. Scipio showed not the least inclination to reject soldiers of that description, knowing that the misfortune at Cannæ had not arisen from their want of spirit, and that, besides, there were none in the Roman army who had served so long, or who had acquired so much experience, both in a variety of battles, and in attacking towns. The legions of Cannæ were the fifth and sixth. After giving notice that he would carry these to Africa, he reviewed them man by man, and leaving behind such as he thought unfit for the service, he substituted in their places those whom he had brought from Italy, and filled up those legions in such a manner, that each contained six thousand two hundred foot and three hundred horse; the horse and foot of the allies, of the Latine confederacy, he chose also out of the army of Cannæ.

XXV. Authors differ widely with regard to the number of men carried over to Africa. In one I find ten thousand foot, and two thousand two hundred horse; in another, sixteen thousand foot, and one thousand six hundred horse: while others augment them more than half, and assert, that thirty-five thousand horse and foot were put on board the ships. Some have not stated the numbers; and among these, as the matter is uncertain, I choose to place myself. Cœlius, indeed, avoids specifying the same; but he magnifies to an immense extent the idea that he gives of their multitude; he tells us, that birds fell to the ground, stunned by the shouts of the soldiers; and that it might have been well imagined, that there was not a man left behind either in Italy or in Sicily. Scipio took upon himself the charge of embarking the men in a regular manner. The seamen were kept in order on board the ships by Caius Lælius, who had the command of the fleet. The care of shipping the stores was allotted to Marcus Edition: current; Page: [128] Pomponius, the prætor. A quantity of food sufficient for forty-five days was put on board: as much of it ready dressed as would serve for fifteen days. When all were embarked, the general sent round boats to bring the pilots and masters, with two soldiers out of each ship, to the Forum, to receive orders. Being there assembled, he first inquired whether they had put water on board for men and cattle, and for as many days as they had corn; they answered, that there was water on board for forty-five days. He then charged the soldiers, that attentive to their duty, they should behave themselves quietly, so that the seamen might perform their business without interruption; informed them, that he and Lucius Scipio, with twenty ships of war, would protect the transports on the right division; and Caius Lælius commander of the fleet, and Marcus Porcius Cato the quæstor, with the same number, those on the left: that the ships of war would carry each a single light, the transports two; that the signal by night, on board the ship of the commander in chief, would consist of three lights. The pilots had orders to steer to Emporium, where the land is remarkably fertile; consequently the country abounds with plenty of all things. The inhabitants are unwarlike, as is generally the case where the soil is rich; and Scipio supposed that they might be overpowered before succour could arrive from Carthage. Having issued these orders he commanded them to return to their ships, and on the signal being given next day, with the favour of the gods, to set sail.

XXVI. Many Roman fleets had sailed from Sicily, and from that same harbour; but never did any equipment afford so grand a spectacle, either in the present war, (which was not surprising, as most of those fleets had only gone in quest of plunder,) or even in any former one. And yet his force could not be fully estimated from a view of the present armament, for not only two consuls with their armies had passed Edition: current; Page: [129] from thence before, but there had been almost as many warvessels in their fleets, as there were transports attending Scipio. These, it is true, were not less than four hundred, but of ships of battle he had only fifty. But the Romans had more alarming apprehensions from one war than from the other; from the second than from the former; as well by reason of its being waged in Italy, as of the dreadful destruction of so many armies, together with their commanders. Scipio, however, had attracted an extraordinary degree of attention. He had acquired a high degree of renown, partly by his bravery, partly by the happy success which had attended it, and which gave room to expect from him the most glorious atchievements. Besides, the very object proposed of passing into the enemy’s country, which had not been attempted by any general during that war, strongly roused men’s feelings; for he had on all occasions publicly declared, that his intention was to draw Hannibal away from Italy, to transfer the war to Africa, and to finish it there. Not only the whole of the inhabitants of Lilybæum crowded together to the harbour to get a view of them, but also deputies from all parts of Sicily; who came for the purpose of showing that mark of respect, not only to Scipio, but to Marcus Pomponius, prætor of the province. The legions likewise, which were to be left on the island, quitted their quarters in compliment to their fellow-soldiers. In a word, the fleet exhibited a grand prospect to those on land, and the land to those on shipboard, it being covered all around with the admiring multitude.

XXVII. As soon as day appeared, a herald having commanded silence, Scipio, in the admiral’s ship, spoke thus: “Ye gods and goddesses, who preside over the seas and lands, I pray and beseech you, that whatever affairs have been carried on, or shall hereafter be carried on, during my command, may all conduce to the happiness of myself, the Edition: current; Page: [130] state, and people of Rome; of the allies, and the Latine confederates, who follow my party, command, and auspices, and those of the Roman people on sea, on land, and on rivers. Lend your favourable aid to all those measures, and further them by happy advancements; bring us all home, unhurt and victorious, decorated with spoils, laden with booty, and exulting in triumph. Grant us the opportunity of taking vengeance on our foes; and whatever attempts the Carthaginian people have made to injure our state, grant to me, and to the Roman people, power to retaliate the same evils on the state of Carthage.” After these prayers, he threw into the sea, according to custom, the raw entrails of a victim which had been slain: and gave by a trumpet the signal for sailing. The wind being favourable and blowing fresh, when they set sail, they were soon carried out of sight of land; but about noon a fog arose, which made it difficult to keep the ships from running foul of each other. As they advanced into the open sea, the wind abated: during the following night the haziness continued, but at the rising of the sun it was dispersed, and the wind freshened. The pilot soon after told Scipio, that “Africa was not above five miles distant; that he saw the promontory of Mercury; and that if he gave orders to steer thither, the whole fleet would be immediately in harbour.” As soon as Scipio came within sight of land, he prayed to the gods that his seeing Africa might be happy for the state, and for himself: he then gave orders to make sail for another landing place. They proceeded with the same wind; but a fog arising, as on the day before, hid the land from their sight; and increasing as the night came on, involved every object in obscurity. They therefore cast anchor, lest the ships should run foul of each other, or be driven on shore. At day-break, however, the wind sprung up, dispersed the fog, and discovered the coast of Africa. Scipio, inquiring the name of the nearest promontory, and being told that it was called Cape Edition: current; Page: [131] Fair, said, “the omen is pleasing; steer your ships thither.” The fleet ran down accordingly, and all the forces were disembarked. I am inclined to follow the accounts of very many Greek and Latin authors; which are, that the voyage was prosperous, and without danger or confusion. Cælius alone, (except that he does not represent the ships as being lost,) gives a narration of every other dreadful occurrence, which could be occasioned by wind or waves; that, at last, the fleet was driven from Africa to the island Ægimurus; that, from thence, with difficulty, they recovered their course; and that the men had, without orders from the general, escaped to land in boats from the almost foundering vessels, just in short as from a shipwreck, without arms and in the utmost disorder.

XXVIII. The troops being landed, formed their camp on the nearest rising grounds. The sight of the fleet, with the bustle of landing, spread consternation and terror, not only through the parts adjoining the sea, but even among the cities. For not only crowds of women and children, mixing with the bands of men, had filled up all the roads, but the country-people also drove their cattle before them, so that it seemed as if they were all at once forsaking Africa. Those caused much greater terror in the cities than they had felt themselves, particularly at Carthage, where the tumult was almost as great as though the enemy were at its gates; for, since the consulate of Marcus Attilius Regulus, and Lucius Manlius, a space of nearly fifty years, they had seen no Roman army, except those predatory squadrons, from which some troops had made descents on the adjoining coast, seizing whatever chance threw in their way, but who had always made a hasty retreat to their ships, and before the peasantry had taken the alarm. For this reason, the consternation and panic was now the greater; and, in fact, they had neither a powerful army at home, nor a general whom they could oppose to the invaders. Edition: current; Page: [132] Hasdrubal, son of Gisgo, was by far the first person in the city, not only in character and wealth, but also by reason of his affinity with the King. They considered, however, that he had been vanquished, and put to flight in several battles, in Spain, by this same Scipio; and that as a commander, he was no more to be equalled with the Roman general, than their tumultuary forces were with the Roman army. The people were therefore called to arms, as though Scipio were ready to attack the city; the gates were hastily shut, armed men placed on the walls, and watches and outposts fixed, together with a regular guard, during the following night. Next day, five hundred horsemen, who were despatched to gain intelligence, and to disturb the enemy on their landing, fell in with the advanced guards of the Romans: for Scipio, having sent his fleet to Utica, had proceeded to some distance from the coast, and had seized on the next high grounds, placing outposts of cavalry in proper places, and sending others into the country to plunder.

XXIX. These, having met with the Carthaginian horsemen, slew a small number of them in fight, and the greater part of the remainder, as they pursued them, flying; among whom was Hanno their commander, a young man of distinction. Scipio not only laid waste the country round, but captured also a very wealthy city which lay near him; in which, besides other things which were immediately put on board the transports and sent to Sicily, there were taken of freemen and slaves, not less than eight thousand. But what gave the Romans the greatest joy on the commencement of their operations was, the arrival of Massinissa, who came, according to some, with no more than two hundred horsemen; but most authors say, with two thousand. Now, as he was by far the greatest of all the kings of that age, and performed the most important services to the Roman state, it appears worth while to digress a little, in order to relate the great vicissitudes Edition: current; Page: [133] of fortune which he experienced in the loss and recovery of his father’s kingdom. While he was fighting on the side of the Carthaginians, in Spain, his father, whose name was Gala, died: the kingdom, according to the custom of the Numidians, came to the king’s brother Æsalces, who was far advanced in years. In a short time after, Æsalces also dying, Capusa, the elder of his two sons, the other of whom was very young, got possession of his father’s dominions: but his title being supported, more by the regard paid to the right of descent, than from any respect to his character, or any strength which he possessed, there stood forth a person called Mezetulus, related by blood in some degree to the royal family. His progenitors, however, had always opposed their interests, and their issue had, with various success, disputed the throne with the branch then in possession. This man, having roused his countrymen to arms, among whom his influence was great, by reason of their dislike to the reigning dynasty, levied open war; so that the King was obliged to take the field, and fight for the crown. In that battle Capusa fell, together with a great number of the principal men of the kingdom; while the whole nation of the Massylians submitted to the dominion and government of Mezetulus. He did not, however, assume the regal title; but, satisfied with the modest one of Protector, gave the name of king to the boy Lacumaces, the surviving son of him whom he had slain. In hopes of procuring an alliance with the Carthaginians, he took to wife a Carthaginian woman of distinction, daughter of Hannibal’s sister, formerly married to King Æsalces; and sending ambassadors to Syphax, renewed with him an old connection of hospitality, endeavouring, by all these measures, to secure a support against Masinissa.

XXX. On the other hand, Masinissa, hearing that his uncle was dead, and afterwards that his cousin-german was slain, came over from Spain into Mauritania. The King of the Edition: current; Page: [134] Moors, at that time, was Bocchar: applying to him as a suppliant, he obtained, by the humblest entreaties, four thousand Moors to escort him on his journey, not being able to prevail for any aid in the war. When he arrived with these on the frontiers of the kingdom, as he had before despatched messengers to his own and his father’s friends, about five hundred Numidians assembled about him. He then sent back the Moors according to his engagement: and although the numbers that joined him were short of his expectations, and not such as might encourage him to undertake an affair of moment; yet, believing that by entering upon action, and making some effort, he should gather strength for a more important enterprise, he threw himself in the way of the young King Lacumaces, as he was going to Syphax at Thapsus. The attendants of Lacumaces flying back in consternation, Masinissa took the city at the first assault, received the submission of some of the King’s party who surrendered, and slew others who attempted to resist; but the greatest part of them, with the boy himself, escaped during the tumult to Thapsus, whither they had at first intended to go. The success of Masinissa in this small exploit, and on the first commencement of his operations, drew the regards of the Numidians towards him, while the old soldiers of Gala flocked from all parts of the country and the towns, inviting the young prince to proceed to the recovery of his father’s kingdom. Mezetulus was superior in number of men: for, besides the army with which he had conquered Capusa, he was strengthened by some troops who had submitted after the King was slain; the boy Lacumaces having likewise brought succours from Syphax. Mezetulus had fifteen thousand foot, ten thousand horse, with whom Masinissa engaged in battle, though much inferior in number. The valour, however, of the veteran soldiers prevailed, aided by the skill of their leader, who had gained experience in the war between the Romans and Carthaginians. Edition: current; Page: [135] The young King, with his guardian and a small body of Massylians, escaped into the territories of the Carthaginians. Masinissa thus recovered his father’s throne, yet, foreseeing that he should have a much more severe struggle to maintain against Syphax, he thought it best to come to a reconciliation with his cousin-german. Proper persons were accordingly sent to give Lacumaces hopes, that if he put himself under the protection of Masinissa, he should enjoy the same honourable provision which Æsalces had formerly known under Gala; and to assure Mezetulus not only of impunity, but of an entire restitution of all his property. As they both preferred a moderate share of fortune at home to exile, he brought them over to his side, notwithstanding the Carthaginians used every means to prevent it.

XXXI. During these transactions Hasdrubal happened to be with Syphax: and when the Numidian seemed to think that it was of little consequence to him whether the government of the Massylians were in the hands of Lacumaces or of Masinissa, he told him that “he would be greatly mistaken in supposing that Masinissa would be content with the acquisitions which had satisfied his father Gala, or his uncle Æsalces. That he was possessed of much greater spirit and understanding than had ever appeared in any of his race; that he had often in Spain exhibited, both to his allies and enemies, instances of such courage as is very rarely seen; that both Syphax and the Carthaginians, unless they smothered that rising flame, would soon be enveloped in a general conflagration, when it would not be in their power to help themselves; that as yet his strength was infirm, and might be easily broken, while he was endeavouring to heal the divisions of his kingdom.” By such kind of arguments Syphax was induced to lead an army to the frontiers of the Massylians, into a district about which there had often been not only verbal disputes, but battles fought, with Gala; and there to pitch Edition: current; Page: [136] his camp, as if it were his acknowledged property; alleging that “if any opposition were made, which was what was most to be wished, he would have an opportunity of fighting: but if the district were abandoned through fear, he should then proceed into the heart of the kingdom: that the Massylians would either submit to his authority without a contest, or, at all events, would be unable to contend with him.” Stimulated by such discourses, Syphax made war on Masinissa, and, in the first encounter, routed and dispersed the Massylians. Masinissa fled from the field, attended only by a few horsemen, to a mountain which the natives call Balbus. A number of families with their tents and cattle, which is all their wealth, followed their King: the rest of the Massylians submitted to Syphax. The mountain, of which the fugitive took possession, abounds with grass and water; and as it was thus well adapted to the grazing of cattle, it supplied abundance of food, to feed men living on flesh and milk. Excursions from hence were made through all the neighbouring parts; at first secretly, and by night; afterwards openly. The lands of the Carthaginians suffered most, because there was greater plenty of spoil there, than among the Numidians, and it was carried off with less danger. At length they became so bold as to carry down their booty to the sea, and sell it to merchants, who brought their ships thither for the purpose; and on these occasions, greater numbers of the Carthaginians were slain and made prisoners, than often happens in a regular engagement. On this subject, the Carthaginians made heavy complaints to Syphax, earnestly pressing him to crush this remnant of the foe. To this he was himself well inclined, but thought it rather beneath the dignity of a king to pursue a vagrant robber, as he styled him, through the mountains.

XXXII. Bocchar, a spirited and enterprising general, was chosen by the Numidian for that employment. Four thousand Edition: current; Page: [137] foot, and two thousand horse were given him; with a promise of immense reward if he should bring back the head of Masinissa; or rather if he should take him alive, for that the latter would be to him a matter of inexpressible joy. Falling unexpectedly on Masinissa’s men, when they were scattered about, and off their guard, and who were in considerable numbers, he shut them out, together with their cattle, from the protection of those who were in arms, driving Masinissa himself, with his few followers, to the summit of the mountain. On this, considering the war as nearly finished, he sent to the King both the booty of cattle and the prisoners, and also a part of his forces, which were more numerous than the remainder of the business required. Then, with no more than five hundred foot and two hundred horse pursuing Masinissa, who had gone down from the top of the mountain, he shut him up in a narrow valley, securing the entrances at each end. Great slaughter was there made of the Massylians: Masinissa, with not more than fifty horsemen, effected a retreat through the intricate passes of the mountains, with which the pursuers were unacquainted. Bocchar, however, closely followed his steps, and overtaking him in an open plain, near the city Clupea, surrounded him in such a manner, that he slew every one of his followers except four horsemen; Masinissa, with these, and after receiving a wound, slipped out of his hands, as it were, during the tumult. Their flight was in full view, a body of horse being spread over the whole plain, some of whom pursued these five remaining enemies, while others, in order to meet them, pushed across their route. A large river lay in the way of the fugitives, into which they plunged their horses without hesitation, being pressed by greater danger from behind. Hurried away by the current, they were carried down obliquely; and two of them being swallowed by its violent rapidity in sight of the enemy, they believed that Masinissa Edition: current; Page: [138] himself had perished: but, with the two other horsemen, he landed among some bushes on the farther bank. This put an end to Bocchar’s pursuit, for he durst not venture into the river; and besides, he was persuaded that the object of it no longer existed: he therefore returned to the King, with the ill-grounded report of Masinissa’s death. Messengers were despatched with the joyful news to Carthage; though in its spread over Africa, men’s minds were variously affected by it. Masinissa, while healing his wound by the application of herbs, and in a secret cave, lived for several days on what the two horsemen procured by pillage. As soon as it was cicatrised, and he thought himself able to bear the motion, he set out again with wonderful resolution, to make another effort for the recovery of his kingdom. He collected in his way not more than forty horsemen; but, as soon as he arrived among the Massylians, and made himself known to them, they were so powerfully actuated both by their former affection and the unhoped-for joy at seeing him, in safety, whom they believed to have perished, that in a few days six thousand armed foot and four thousand horse repaired to his standard; and he not only got possession of his father’s kingdom, but laid waste the countries in alliance with the Carthaginians, and the frontiers of the Masæsylians, the dominion of Syphax. Having thus provoked the Numidian to war, he took post between Cirtha and Hippo, on the tops of mountains, in a situation convenient for all his purposes.

XXXIII. Syphax, thinking this an affair of too much importance to be entrusted to the management of his generals, sent a part of his army with his son Vermina, then a youth; with orders to march round in a circuit, and fall upon the enemy’s rear, when he himself should have attracted their attention to his side. Vermina set out by night, so as to be concealed until he should begin the attack: but Syphax decamped in the day, and marched openly, as he was to engage Edition: current; Page: [139] in a regular pitched battle. When he thought that sufficient time had been allowed for those who had been sent round to have arrived at their station, he led his forces, by a gentle acclivity, directly up the mountain, for he relied both on his numbers, and the ambuscade whichh he had prepared on his enemy’s rear. Masinissa, on the other side, drew up his men, depending chiefly on the advantage of the ground; although, had it been much less in his favour, he would not have declined the fight. The battle was furious, and for a long time doubtful: Masinissa being favoured by his situation and the bravery of his men; Syphax by his numbers, which were more than abundant. This great multitude being divided, one part pressed on in front, while the other part surrounded the rear; which gave a decided victory to Syphax; nor was there even room for the enemy to escape, inclosed as they were on both sides: the rest, therefore, horse and foot, were either slain or taken. Masinissa collected round himself, in close order, about two hundred horsemen, whom he divided into three squadrons, with orders to break through the enemy, having appointed a place where they should re-assemble, after being separated in their flight. He himself made his way through the midst of their weapons, as he had proposed; the other two squadrons failed in the attempt; one surrendering through fear, the other, after a more obstinate resistance, being overwhelmed with darts, and cut to pieces. Vermina followed close on the steps of Masinissa, who baffled him by frequently turning out of one road into another; and whom he at length obliged, harassed with extreme fatigue, to desist from the pursuit, and arrived himself with sixty horsemen at the lesser Syrtis. There, with the honourable consciousness of having often attempted the recovery of his father’s kingdom, he rested until the coming of Caius Lælius and the Roman fleet to Africa, between the Carthaginian Emporia and the nation of the Garamantians. From these circumstances, Edition: current; Page: [140] I am inclined to believe, that Masinissa came afterwards to Scipio, rather with a small body of forces than a large one: for the very great number which has been mentioned by some, suits the condition of a king on the throne; the smaller that of an exile.

XXXIV. The Carthaginians, having lost a large party of horse, together with their commander, made up another body of cavalry, by a new levy, and gave the command of it to Hanno, son of Hamilcar. They sent frequently for Hasdrubal and Syphax by letters and messengers, and at length by ambassadors. Hasdrubal was ordered to come to the aid of his native city, which was threatened with a siege, while Syphax was entreated to bring relief to Carthage, and to all Africa. Scipio was at that time near Utica, about five miles from the city; having removed from the sea-coast, where, for a few days, he had a camp adjoining the fleet. Hanno, having received the newly-raised body of cavalry, (which, so far from being strong enough to make any attempt on the enemy, was not even sufficient to protect the country from devastation,) made it his first care to increase their number by pressing. Those of other nations were not rejected; but he collected mostly Numidians, who are by far the best horsemen in Africa. Having got together four thousand horse, he took up his quarters in a city called Salera, fifteen miles from the Roman camp. When this was told to Scipio, he said, with surprise, “What! cavalry lodging in houses during the summer! Let them be even more in number, while they have such a commander.” The less they showed of activity, the less time he thought should be lost by himself; he therefore sent forward Masinissa with the cavalry, giving them directions to ride up to the gates, and entice the enemy out to battle. That when their multitudes should pour out, and become too powerful in the contest, he should give way by degrees; and that he would himself come up in time to Edition: current; Page: [141] support the fight. When the advanced party had, as he supposed, effected his purpose, he followed with the Roman horse, and proceeded, without being observed, under cover of some rising grounds which lay very conveniently round the windings of the road. Masinissa, according to the plan laid down, acted at one time, as if threatening an assault, at another, as if seized with fear; now riding up to the very gates, and now retreating with dissembled haste, which gave such boldness to the enemy, that they were at length tempted to come out of the town, and pursue him, with disorder, in his counterfeited flight. All, however, had not come forth; and with these remaining numbers the commander was not a little perplexed. Some, overpowered with wine and sleep, he had to compel to the taking of arms, others he had to stop who were running out by the gates without their standards, and in scattered parties, wholly regardless of order or ranks. Masinissa withstood them at first, while they rushed rashly to the charge; but soon after, greater numbers pouring out, and their whole force of cavalry joining in the conflict, they could no longer be resisted. Yet Masinissa did not betake himself to a hasty flight; but retired leisurely, until he drew them on to the hills which concealed the Roman cavalry. These immediately rising up, their strength unimpaired, and their horses fresh, spread themselves round Hanno and the Africans, who were fatigued in the fight and the pursuit; and Masinissa, suddenly wheeling about, returned to the charge. About one thousand, who composed the first division, and who could not easily retreat, were, together with Hanno the commander, surrounded and slain: the rest, terrified principally by the death of their general, fled in confusion, and were pursued, for thirty miles, by the conquerors, who took or slew two thousand more of the cavalry. It appeared, that there were among these not less than two hundred Carthaginian Edition: current; Page: [142] horsemen; several of them of the richest and most distinguished families.

XXXV. It happened that the same day on which this battle was fought, the ships, which had carried the booty to Sicily, returned with stores, as if they had foreseen that they were to bear away another cargo as before. All writers do not mention two generals of the Carthaginians, of the same name, being slain, in two battles of the cavalry; apprehending, I suppose, that there was a mistake, occasioned by the same fact being related twice. Nay, Cælius and Valerius even assert, that Hanno was taken prisoner. Scipio made presents to the officers and horsemen, according to the behaviour of each; and, above all, he paid extraordinary honours to Masinissa. Having placed a strong garrison in Salera, he set out with the rest of the army; and not only laid waste the country wherever he marched, but also took some cities and towns, and thereby widely diffused the terror of his arms. Scipio returned to the camp on the seventh day after he had left it, bringing with him a great number of men and cattle, and a vast quantity of plunder. He then dismissed the ships, heavily laden, a second time, with all kinds of spoil. From that time, laying aside small expeditions, and predatory excursions, he turned the whole force of the war to the siege of Utica; intending, if he should take it, to establish his headquarters there for the future, in order to the better execution of the rest of his designs. While the marine forces made their approaches on that side of the city which is washed by the sea, those of the land advanced from a rising ground hanging almost over the walls. Engines and machines had been sent from Sicily, with the stores; and many were made in the armory, where a number of artificers, skilled in such works, were retained for the purpose. The people of Utica, attacked on all sides by such a powerful force, had no hopes but from the Carthaginians; nor the Carthaginians any but Edition: current; Page: [143] from Hasdrubal, and from him only, as he should be able to influence Syphax. But all measures proceeded too slowly for their anxious desire of aid, of which they stood so much in need. Hasdrubal, though he had, by the most diligent press, made up the number of thirty thousand foot, and three thousand horse, yet durst not move towards the camp of the enemy before the arrival of Syphax. Syphax soon came, with fifty thousand foot, and ten thousand horse; and immediately decamping from Carthage, sat down at a small distance from Utica, and the intrenchments of the Romans. Their approach produced at least this consequence, that Scipio, after having besieged Utica for near forty days, and tried every expedient for its reduction in vain, was obliged to retire from it, as the winter was now at hand. He fortified his winter camp on a promontory, joined to the continent by a narrow isthmus, and which stretches out to some length into the sea; and included the naval camp within the same intrenchment. The legions were stationed on the middle of the isthmus; the ships were hauled on shore, and the seamen occupied the coast which faces the north; the cavalry a valley on the south. Such were the transactions in Africa to the latter end of autumn.

XXXVI. Various stores were imported from Sicily and Italy; and besides the corn collected from all quarters of the adjacent country, Cneius Octavius, proprætor, brought a vast quantity out of Sardinia, from Tiberius Claudius, the prætor: in consequence of which, not only the granaries already built were filled, but new ones were erected. Clothing was wanted for the troops: that matter was given in charge to Octavius, with directions to apply to the prætor, and to try if any could be procured by him; a business which he carefully attended to, for in a short time twelve hundred gowns and twelve thousand jackets were sent. During the same summer in which these things passed in Africa, Publius Edition: current; Page: [144] Sempronius, consul, who had the province of Bruttium, on his march in the district of Croton, engaged Hannibal in a tumultuary battle, or rather a kind of skirmishing. The Romans were worsted; and one thousand two hundred of the consul’s army slain. The rest returned in confusion to the camp, which, however, the enemy did not dare to assault. During the silence of the following night, Sempronius marched away, and, having sent directions to Publius Licinius, proconsul, to bring up his legions, he made a junction of their forces; thus, two commanders and two armies returned upon Hannibal. Neither party declined an engagement: the consul deriving confidence from his forces being doubled; the Carthaginian, from his late victory. Sempronius led up his own legions into the first line, those of Licinius were placed in reserve. In the beginning of the battle the consul vowed a temple to Fortuna Primigenia, if he should defeat the enemy on that day; and the object of his vow was accomplished. The Carthaginians were routed, and put to flight: above four thousand fell, somewhat less than three hundred were made prisoners, with whom were taken forty horses, and eleven military standards. Hannibal, dismayed by this overthrow, drew off his army to Croton. At the same time Marcus Cornelius, consul, not so much by force of his arms as by the terror of his judicial proceedings, kept Etruria in obedience; though it was almost entirely devoted to Mago, and to the hope of obtaining, by his means, a change of government. The inquisitions, directed by the senate, he executed with the utmost impartiality; and many of the Tuscan nobles, who had either gone themselves, or sent deputies to Mago, about the revolt of their states, stood trial, and were found guilty. Others, from a consciousness of guilt, went into voluntary exile; and by thus withdrawing, though condemned in their absence, could suffer only in a confiscation of their effects.

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XXXVII. While the consuls were thus employed in different parts, the censors at Rome, (Marcus Livius and Caius Claudius,) called over the list of the senate. Quintus Fabius Maximus was again chosen principal; seven were disgraced, not one, however, of those who had sat in the curule chair. The orders for repairing public buildings were enforced with the greatest strictness. A road was contracted for, to be made from the ox market to the temple of Venus, with public seats; and a temple to be built, for the Great Mother, on the Palatine hill. A new tax, from the sale of salt, was established. This article had been sold at the sixth part of an as, both at Rome, and in all parts of Italy: and it was now directed to be supplied at the same rate at Rome, at a higher in the country towns and markets, and at various prices in different places. People were firmly persuaded, that Livius had contrived this tax in resentment, and on account of a sentence having been formerly passed on him, which he had considered as unjust; and that, in fixing the price of salt, the greatest burthen had been laid on those tribes by whose influence he had been condemned: hence the surname of Salinator was given to him. The lustrum was closed later than usual; because the censors sent persons through all the provinces, to bring them a return of the number of Roman citizens in each of the armies. Including these, there were rated, in the survey, two hundred and fourteen thousand men. Caius Claudius Nero had the honour of closing the lustrum. The senate then received a survey of twelve colonies, presented by the censors of those colonies, which had never been done before, in order that records might appear in the public archives of their proportion of strength both in men and money. The review of the knights then began; and it so happened that both the censors had a horse at the public expense. When they came to the Pollian tribe, in which was enrolled the name of Marcus Edition: current; Page: [146] Livius, and whom the herald hesitated to cite, Nero called to him, “Cite Marcus Livius:” and being actuated either by some remains of their old enmity, or by an unseasonable affectation of strictness, he ordered Livius to sell his horse, because he had been condemned by a sentence of the people. In like manner Marcus Livius, when they came to the Narnian tribe, in which the name of his colleague appeared, he ordered him to dispose of his horse, for two reasons: one, that he had given false evidence; the other, that he had not been sincere in his reconciliation with him. Thus they became engaged in a scandalous contest, each aspersing the character of the other, though at the same time he injured his own. On going out of their office of censor, when Caius Claudius had taken the oath respecting the observance of the laws, and had gone up to the treasury, among the names of those whom he left disfranchised in the treasury list, he gave in the name of his associate. Marcus Livius also came thither, and, except the Metian tribe, which had neither concurred in his condemnation, nor in appointing him consul or censor, he left the whole Roman people, thirty-four tribes, disfranchised in the treasury list; and this (he said) he did, because they had not only condemned him when innocent, but had elected him, while under the said sentence, both consul and censor; so that they could not deny that they had been guilty, either of one great fault in giving their sentence, or of two in the elections. He added, that Caius Claudius would be included in the list among the thirty-four tribes; but that if there had been any precedent of inserting any person twice in the treasury list, he would have inserted his name particularly. The contest between the censors, thus mutually reproaching each other, was shameful; while the rebuke given to the giddiness of the people was highly becoming a censor, and the strict principles of that age. The censors having fallen into disrepute, Cneius Bæbius, tribune Edition: current; Page: [147] of the people, thinking that their situation afforded him an opportunity of gaining notice, summoned them both to a trial before the people: but the senate interfered, and stopped any farther proceedings, lest the office of censor should, in future, be subjected to the humour of the populace.

XXXVIII. During the same summer the consul took Clampetia in Bruttium, by storm. Consentia and Pandosia, with other towns of small consequence, surrendered voluntarily; and, as the time of the elections drew near, it was thought more expedient to call home Cornelius from Etruria, where there was no employment for his arms. He elected Cneius Servilius Cæpio, and Cneius Servilius Geminus. The election of the prætors was then held: there were chosen Cneius Cornelius Lentulus, Publius Quintilius Varus, Publius Ælius Pætus, and Publius Villius Tappulus; although the two latter were ædiles of the commons. The consul, as soon as the elections were over, returned into Etruria to his army. The priests who died that year, and those who were substituted in the places of others, were Tiberius Veturius Philo, flamen of Mars, elected and inaugurated in the room of Marcus Æmilius Regillus, deceased the year before. In the room of Marcus Pomponius Matho, augur and decemvir, were elected, as decemvir, Marcus Aurelius Cotta; as augur, Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, who was then very young; an instance in those times extremely rare in the disposal of a priest’s office. Golden chariots, with four horses, were that year placed in the Capitol by the curule ædiles, Caius Livius and Marcus Servilius Geminus. The Roman games were repeatedly exhibited for two days. In like manner the Plebeian, for two days, by the ædiles Publius Ælius and Publius Villius. There was also a feast of Jove on occasion of the games.

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BOOK XXX.

Scipio, aided by Masinissa, defeats the Carthaginians, Syphax and Hasdrubal, in several battles. Syphax taken by Lælius and Masinissa. Masinissa espouses Sophonisba, the wife of Syphax, Hasdrubal’s daughter; being reproved by Scipio, he sends her poison, with which she puts an end to her life. The Carthaginians, reduced to great extremity, by Scipio’s repeated victories, call Hannibal home from Italy; he holds a conference with Scipio on the subject of peace, and is again defeated by him in battle. The Carthaginians sue for peace, which is granted them. Masinissa reinstated in his kingdom. Scipio returns to Rome; his splendid triumph; is surnamed Africanus.

Y.R.549. bc203.I. CNEIUS SERVILIUS CÆPIO and Caius Servilius Geminus, being consuls, in the sixteenth year of the Punic war, consulted the senate on the state of public affairs, the war, and the provinces. The senate decreed, that the consuls should settle between themselves, or determine by lot, which of them should hold the province of Bruttium, and act against Hannibal; and which that of Etruria and Liguria. That he to whose lot Bruttium fell, should receive the army from Publius Sempronius, late consul. That Publius Sempronius, to whom the command Edition: current; Page: [149] was continued, as proconsul, for a year, should succeed Publius Licinius, who was to come home to Rome. This commander had now acquired a high reputation for military skill, in addition to his other excellent qualifications, of which no citizen, at that time, possessed such an abundance; nature and fortune conspiring to confer on him every thing valuable in man. He was of a noble race, and possessed great wealth; he excelled in personal beauty and strength of body; he was esteemed the most eloquent of his time, whether he pleaded in the courts of justice, or enforced or opposed any measure, either in the senate, or before the people; and was, besides, remarkably skilled in the pontifical law. In addition to all these, the consulship enabled him to acquire fame in the field. The same method of proceeding, which the senate had decreed in regard to the province of Bruttium, was ordered to be followed in respect of Etruria and Liguria. Marcus Cornelius was ordered to deliver the army to the new consul; and, his command being continued, to hold the province of Gaul, with those legions which Lucius Scribonius, prætor, had commanded the year before. The consuls then cast lots for the provinces: Bruttium fell to Cæpio, Etruria to Servilius Geminus. The provinces of the prætors were next put to the lot: Pætus Ælius obtained the city jurisdiction; Cneius Lentulus, Sardinia; Publius Villius, Sicily; Quintilius Varus, Ariminum, with two legions, which had been under Lucretius Spurius. Lucretius remained on his station, in order that he might rebuild the city of Genoa, which had been demolished by Mago the Carthaginian. Publius Scipio’s command was continued, not for a period limited by time, but by the business, until an end should be put to the war in Africa; and it was decreed, that a supplication should be performed, to obtain from the gods, that his having passed into Africa might prove happy to the people, to the general himself, and to the army.

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II. Three thousand men were raised for Sicily; and, because whatever strength it had possessed was carried over to Carthage, it was resolved that the coast of that island should be guarded by forty ships, lest any fleet should come thither from Africa. Villius carried with him to Sicily thirteen new ships, the rest were old ones repaired there. Marcus Pomponius, prætor of the former year, (his command of this fleet being continued,) took on board the new soldiers. An equal number of ships were decreed by the senate to Cneius Octavius, prætor likewise of the former year, with the same right of command, in order to protect the coast of Sardinia. Lentulus, prætor, was ordered to supply the fleet with two thousand soldiers. The defence of the coast of Italy was intrusted to Marcus Marcius, prætor of the former year, with the same number of ships; because it was uncertain to what place the Carthaginians might direct their attack, which would probably be against whatever part was destitute of forces for its defence. For that fleet, in pursuance of a decree of the senate, the consuls enlisted three thousand men, and also two city legions, for the exigencies of the war. Spain, with the armies there, and the command, was decreed to the former generals, Lucius Lentulus, and Lucius Manlius Acidinus. The Romans employed in their service, for that year, in all, twenty legions, and a hundred and sixty ships of war. The prætors were directed to repair to their provinces; and orders were given to the consuls, that, before their departure from the city, they should celebrate the great games, which Titus Manlius Torquatus, in his dictatorship, had vowed to be exhibited in the fifth year, if the condition of the state remained unaltered. Religious apprehensions were raised in men’s minds, by relations of prodigies brought from several places. It was believed that crows had not only torn with their beaks some gold in the Capitol, but had even eaten it. At Antium, mice gnawed a golden crown. A vast quantity of locusts Edition: current; Page: [151] filled all the country round Capua, though it could not be discovered from whence they came. At Reate, a foal was produced with five feet. At Anagnia, there appeared in the sky, at first, scattered fire, and afterwards a prodigious blaze. At Frusino, a circle encompassed the sun with a narrow line; then the orb of the sun, increasing in size, extended its circumference beyond the circle. At Arpinum, in a level plain, the earth sunk into a vast gulph. When one of the consuls sacrificed the first victims, the head of the liver was wanting. These prodigies were expiated by the greater victims, the college of pontiffs directing to what gods the sacrifices should be made.

III. As soon as this business was finished, the consuls and prætors set out for their respective provinces. They directed their chief attention to Africa, as if it were allotted to them, either because they saw that the grand interests of their country, and of the war, depended on the proceedings there, or from a desire to gratify Scipio, who was then the object of universal favour among all the members of the state. Therefore, thither were sent not only from Sardinia, as was mentioned before, but from Sicily also, and Spain, clothing, corn, and arms, with every other kind of stores: while Scipio relaxed not his diligence during any part of the winter in the operations of war, for which he found abundant occasion on every side. He was engaged in the siege of Utica; Hasdrubal’s camp was within sight; the Carthaginians had launched their ships, and kept their fleet equipped, and in readiness to intercept his convoys. Amidst so many objects which required his attention, he did not neglect endeavouring to recover the friendship of Syphax; hoping that he might now perhaps be cloyed with love, in the full enjoyment of his bride. The answers of Syphax contained, chiefly, proposals for an accommodation with the Carthaginians, on the terms of the Romans retiring from Africa, and the Carthaginians Edition: current; Page: [152] from Italy; but afforded scarcely any hopes, that he would relinquish his present engagements. I am more inclined to believe, that this business was transacted by messengers, as most authors affirm, than that Syphax came in person to the Roman camp to a conference, as Antias Valerius writes. At first, the Roman general hardly permitted those terms to be mentioned by his people; but afterwards, in order that they might have a plausible pretext for going frequently into the enemy’s camp, he softened his refusals, even seemingly inclining to a negociation. The winter-huts of the Carthaginians were composed almost entirely of timber, which they had hastily collected from the fields: those of the Numidians were formed of reeds interwoven, and most of them covered with mats, and dispersed up and down without any regularity, some of them even on the outside of the trench and rampart, for they were left to choose their own ground. These circumstances being related to Scipio, gave him hopes that he might find an opportunity of burning the enemy’s camp.

IV. In the retinue of the embassy to Syphax, he sent, instead of common attendants, centurions of the first rank, of approved courage and prudence, dressed as servants; who, while the ambassadors were engaged in conference, might ramble through the camp, and observe all the approaches and outlets; the situation and form, both of the whole and of the several parts of it; where the Carthaginians lay, where the Numidians; what distance there was between Hasdrubal’s station and the King’s; and, at the same time, discover their method of fixing outposts and watches, and whether they were more open to surprise by night, or by day. Many conferences being held, care was taken to send different persons at different times, in order that the greater number might be acquainted with every circumstance. These frequent conversations had led Syphax, and, through him the Carthaginians, to entertain daily more confident expectations of a Edition: current; Page: [153] peace, when the Roman ambassadors told him, that “they were ordered not to return to the general without a definitive answer: therefore, if his own determination was fixed, he should declare it; or, if Hasdrubal and the Carthaginians were to be consulted, he should do it without delay. It was time that either the terms of peace should be adjusted, or the war carried on with vigour.” While Syphax was consulting Hasdrubal, and Hasdrubal the Carthaginians, the spies had time to take a view of every thing, and Scipio also to make the preparations necessary to his design. From the mention of accommodation, and their expectation of it, the Carthaginians and Numidians took not the necessary precautions against any attempt which the enemy might make. At length an answer was returned, in which, as the Romans appeared exceedingly anxious for peace, the Carthaginians took the opportunity of adding some unreasonable conditions, which afforded a plausible pretence to Scipio, who now wished to break the truce. Accordingly, telling the King’s messenger, that “he would take the opinion of his council on the affair,” he answered him next day, that “he alone had laboured to put an end to the war, none of the other parties, in fact, showing any disposition towards it: that Syphax must entertain no hopes of entering into any treaty with the Romans, unless he renounced the party of the Carthaginians.” Thus he dissolved the truce, in order to mature his plans. Launching his ships, (for it was now the beginning of spring,) he put on board engines and machines, as if an attack on Utica were intended by sea; at the same time sending two thousand men to take possession of the hill which commanded that place, and which he had formerly occupied; with a view, at once to divert the attention of the enemy from his real design, and to prevent any sally being made from the city, while he should be employed at a distance against Syphax Edition: current; Page: [154] and Hasdrubal. He likewise feared an attack, should his camp be left with only a small force to defend it.

V. Having taken these preparatory steps, he summoned a council, ordering the spies to give an account of the discoveries which they had made; at the same time requesting Masinissa, who was well acquainted with every circumstance of the enemy, to deliver his opinion; and, lastly, he informed them of a plan, which he intended to execute on the following night. He gave orders to the tribunes, that, as soon as the trumpets had sounded on the breaking up of the meeting at the prætorium, they should march the legions out of the camp. In pursuance of these orders, the troops began to move a little before sunset: about the first watch, they formed their line of march; and about midnight, (for the way was seven miles,) proceeding in a moderate pace, they arrived at the enemy’s camp. He there gave Lælius the command of a part of the forces, to whom were joined Masinissa and the Numidians, with orders to fall upon the camp of Syphax, and set it on fire. Then, taking Lælius and Masinissa apart, he entreated each separately, that “as the night would be apt to impede the best-concerted measures, they should make up for the difficulties by their diligence and care;” telling them, also, that “he meant to attack Hasdrubal and the Carthaginian camp; but would not begin his operations until he should see the fire in that of the King.” The business was not long delayed; and as the huts all stood contiguously, the flames spread rapidly through every part of the camp. The alarm was great, by reason of its being night, and from the widely-extended blaze; but the King’s troops, thinking it an accidental calamity, rushed out, unarmed, in order to extinguish the flames, and met the enemy in arms, particularly the Numidians, whom Masinissa, being well acquainted with the King’s station, had posted at the openings of the passes. Many perished in their beds while half asleep; Edition: current; Page: [155] while many in their precipitate flight, crowding upon one another, were trodden to death in the narrow passages of the gates.

VI. When the Carthaginian centinels, awakened by the tumult of the night, beheld the fire, they also supposed it to be accidental; while the shout, raised amidst the slaughter and wounds, was so confused, (the alarm, too, being in the dark,) that they were unable to discover the cause or extent of the evil which assailed them. Running out, therefore, in the utmost hurry, by all the gates, without arms, as not suspecting an enemy to be near, and carrying nothing with them but what might serve to extinguish the flames, they rushed against the body of Romans. All of these were slain, not merely to gratify hostile animosity, but in order to prevent any one escaping with intelligence as to the truth of the affair. Scipio, immediately after, attacked the gates, which were neglected, as may be supposed, during such confusion, and set fire to the nearest huts; which, soon communicating to the others, the whole was enveloped in one general conflagration. Half-burned men and cattle stopped up the passages, first by the hurry of their flight, and afterwards with their carcases. Those who had escaped the flames were cut off by the sword; and the two camps were, by one fatal blow, involved in utter ruin. However, the two commanders, with two thousand foot and five hundred horse, half armed, and a great part wounded or scorched, got away. There were destroyed by fire or sword, forty thousand men; taken, above five thousand; many Carthaginian nobles, eleven senators, military standards a hundred and seventy-four, Numidian horses above two thousand seven hundred; six elephants were taken, and eight destroyed. A great quantity of arms was taken, all which the general dedicated to Vulcan, and committed to the flames.

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VII. Hasdrubal, with a small number of Africans, had directed his flight to the nearest city; and thither, all who survived, following the steps of their general, had assembled; but, dreading lest he should be delivered into the hands of Scipio, he soon after quitted it. The Romans, who were, immediately after, received there, committed no act of hostility, because the surrender was voluntary. Two other cities were taken and plundered; and the booty found in them, together with what had been saved when the camps were burned, was given up to the soldiers. Syphax halted, in a fortified post, at about eight miles distance. Hasdrubal, lest any timorous measures should be adopted through the violent apprehensions occasioned by the late disaster, proceeded to Carthage, where such consternation had seized the people, that they made no doubt but Scipio would leave Utica, and instantly lay siege to Carthage. The senate was therefore assembled by the suffetes, who are invested with the same authority as our consuls. Three different opinions were offered on the occasion: one proposed sending ambassadors to Scipio, with proposals of peace; another, the recalling of Hannibal, to defend his country; the third showed Roman firmness in adversity, recommending to recruit the army, and to entreat Syphax not to abandon the war. This latter opinion prevailed, because Hasdrubal, who was present, and all of the Barcine faction, were disposed to fight to the last. On this they began to levy troops in the city and the country, and sent ambassadors to Syphax, who was himself most vigorously employed in making preparations for the renewal of hostilities. His queen had prevailed, not on this occasion as formerly, by her allurements, which were sufficiently powerful over the mind of her lover, but by prayers and appeals to his compassion; with tears having beseeched him, not to forsake her father and her country, nor suffer Carthage to be burned as the camps had been. Add to this, some new ground Edition: current; Page: [157] of hope which offered itself very seasonably, the ambassadors acquainting him, that they had met, near the city called Abba, four thousand Celtiberians, able young men, who had been inlisted by their recruiting parties in Spain; and that Hasdrubal would speedily arrive with a body of troops far from contemptible. Syphax not only gave a favourable answer to the Carthaginians, but showed them a multitude of Numidian peasants, to whom he had, within a few days, given arms and horses; and assured them also, that he would call out all the youth in his kingdom, observing that “their loss had been occasioned by fire, not by battle, and that he only who was defeated by arms, ought to be deemed inferior to his enemy.” Such was his reply; and, a few days after, he and Hasdrubal again joined their forces; when their whole army amounted to about thirty thousand fighting men.

VIII. While Scipio gave his whole attention to the siege of Utica, as if no farther hostilities were to be apprehended from Syphax and the Carthaginians, and was employed in bringing up his machines to the walls, he was called away by the news of the war being revived. Leaving, therefore, only a small number of men on sea and land, to keep up the appearance of a siege, he set out himself with the main body of the army to meet the enemy. At first, he took post on a hill, distant about four miles from the King’s camp. On the day following, descending into the great plains, as they are called, which lie under that hill, with a body of cavalry, he spent the day in advancing frequently to the enemy’s posts, and provoking them by slight skirmishes. For the two succeeding days, however, though irregular excursions were made by both parties in turn, nothing worth notice was performed. On the fourth day, both armies came out to battle. The Romans placed their first-rank men behind the front battalions, consisting of the spearmen, and the veterans in reserve; Edition: current; Page: [158] posting the Italian cavalry on the right wing, the Numidians and Masinissa on the left. Syphax and Hasdrubal, having placed their Numidians opposite to the Italian cavalry, and the Carthaginians opposite to Masinissa, drew the Celtiberians into the centre of the line, facing the battalions of the legions: in this order they began the engagement. On the first encounter, both wings (Numidians and Carthaginians) were forced to give way. For neither could the Numidians, most of whom were undisciplined peasants, withstand the Roman cavalry; nor the Carthaginians, who were also raw soldiers, withstand Masinissa, who, besides other circumstances, was rendered terrible by his late victory. The line of Celtiberians, (although, having lost the cover of the wings, they were exposed on both flanks,) yet resolutely kept their ground; for neither could they see any safety in flight, being unacquainted with the country, nor had they any hope of pardon from Scipio, having come into Africa to fight against him for the sake of hire, notwithstanding the favours which he had conferred on them and their nation. Surrounded, therefore, on all sides, they died with determined obstinacy, falling in heaps one over another; and, while the attention of all was turned on them, Syphax and Hasdrubal availed themselves of this opportunity, and gained a considerable space of time to effect their escape. Night came upon the conquerors, who were fatigued more with killing, than from the length of the contest.

IX. Next day Scipio sent Lælius and Masinissa, with all the Roman and Numidian cavalry, and the light infantry, in pursuit of Syphax and Hasdrubal. He himself, with the main body of the army, reduced all the cities in that part of the country which belonged to the Carthaginians, some by offering them hopes, others by threats, others by force. At Carthage, the consternation was excessive: they expected nothing less than that Scipio, who was extending his operations Edition: current; Page: [159] on every side, should quickly subdue all the neighbouring places, and then immediately invest their city. They therefore repaired the walls, and strengthened them with outworks; every one exerting himself, in bringing in from the country such things as were requisite for sustaining a long and powerful siege. Little mention was made of peace; very many advised that a deputation should be sent to recall Hannibal: but the greater number were earnest for despatching the fleet, (which had been equipped for the purpose of intercepting the convoys,) to surprise the ships stationed at Utica, where no attack was expected; alleging the probability, that they might, at the same time, make themselves masters of the naval camp, which had been left with a slight guard. This latter scheme met general approbation; but, at the same time, they determined to call Hannibal home, because, should the fleet meet with all possible success, Utica would, indeed, be relieved from some part of the pressure of the siege; but, for the defence of Carthage itself, there was now no general remaining but Hannibal, and no army but his. The ships were therefore launched on the following day; at the same time the deputies set out for Italy, and, the juncture being critical, every measure was executed with the utmost despatch; each man thinking, that if he were in any degree remiss, he was so far a betrayer of the public safety. Scipio led on his forces by slow marches, as they were heavily loaded with the spoils of many cities. After sending the prisoners, and other booty, to his old camp at Utica, directing his views to Carthage, he seized on Tunes, which was defenceless, the garrison having fled. This city was very strong both by nature and art; it may be seen from Carthage, from which it is distant about fifteen miles, and at the same time affords a prospect of that city, and the adjacent sea.

X. The Romans, while busily employed in raising a rampart at Tunes, descried the fleet which was steering to Utica. Edition: current; Page: [160] On this, the work was instantly dropped, and orders to march were issued. The troops set out with the utmost speed, lest the Roman fleet should be surprised, while attentive only to the siege, and in no condition for a naval fight. For how could any resistance have been made to a fleet of active ships, furnished with every kind of arms, by vessels loaded with engines and machines; and which were either converted to the purpose of transports, or pushed so close to the walls, that they served instead of mounds and bridges for the men to mount by? Scipio therefore, contrary to the usual practice in sea-engagements, drawing back the ships of war, which might be a protection to the others into the rear, near the land, opposed to the enemy a line of transports consisting of four in depth, to serve as a wall; and lest this line should be broken during the confusion of the fight, he fastened the vessels together by means of masts and yards, passed from one to another, with strong ropes, in such a manner as to form, as it might be called, one entire tier. Over these he laid planks, which formed a passage from ship to ship through the whole line; and under those bridges of communication he left openings, through which the scout boats might run out towards the enemy, and retreat with safety. Having completed these sea-works, as well as the time allowed, he put on board the transports about a thousand chosen men to defend them; with a vast quantity of weapons, chiefly missive, sufficient to serve for a battle of any continuance. Thus prepared, they waited attentively the coming of the enemy. Had the Carthaginians been expeditious, they might at the first onset have overpowered the Romans, every thing being in hurry and confusion; but dispirited by their losses on land, and losing thereby their confidence at sea also, where their strength, however, was superior, they spent the whole day in approaching slowly, and about sunset put into a harbour, which the Africans call Ruscino. On the following day, Edition: current; Page: [161] about sunrise, they formed their ships in a line towards the open sea, as if for a regular sea-fight, and as if the Romans were to come out to meet them. When they had stood thus for a long time, and saw that no motion was made by the enemy, they attacked the transports. The affair bore no resemblance to a naval engagement: it was more like an attack made by ships against walls. The transports had some advantage in their height; for the Carthaginians, being obliged to throw their weapons upward, discharged most of them to no purpose against the higher places; whereas those from the transports fell with greater force, at the same time gaining additional power from their own weight. The scouts and lighter Roman vessels, which pushed out through the openings under the bridges of communication between their ships, were at first run down by the weight and bulk of the Carthaginian ships of war; and afterwards they became an obstruction to those who defended the line, because, as they were mixed among the enemy’s ships, they often obliged them to stop the discharge of their weapons, lest, missing their aim, they should hit their friends. At length the Carthaginians threw among the Romans, beams furnished at the ends with iron hooks, which the soldiers call harpoons. They could neither cut the beams nor the chains by which they were raised in order to be thrown, so that as soon as any of the ships of war, hauling back, dragged a transport entangled by the hook, the fastenings of these vessels broke, and in some places several were dragged away together. By this means chiefly were all the bridges torn asunder, and scarcely had the defenders time to make their escape into the second row of ships. About six were towed away to Carthage; where the joy of the people was greater than the occasion merited. But they were the more sensibly affected, because this gleam of good fortune, however small, had unexpectedly shone on them, in the midst of a continued course of losses Edition: current; Page: [162] and lamentations. It appeared that the Roman fleet would hardly have escaped destruction, had not their own commanders been dilatory, so that Scipio had time to bring in relief.

XI. Lælius and Masinissa having, about the fifteenth day, arrived in Numidia, Massylia, Masinissa’s hereditary kingdom, submitted to him with joy, as to a prince whom they had long and earnestly wished to hail. Syphax, seeing all his commanders and garrisons expelled from thence, retired within his own original dominions, but in no disposition to remain quiet. In his ambitious views, he was spurred on by his queen and father-in-law; and indeed he possessed such abundance of men and horses, that a mind less barbarous and violent than his might well assume confidence; and when reflecting on the great strength of a kingdom, which had enjoyed prosperity for a long course of years. Wherefore, collecting together all who were able to bear arms, he distributed among them horses and weapons: he divided the horsemen into troops, and the footmen into cohorts, as he had formerly learned from the Roman centurions; and thus, with an army not less numerous than that which he had before, but composed almost entirely of raw undisciplined men, he advanced towards the enemy, and pitched his camp at a small distance from theirs. At first, a few horsemen advanced from the outposts, to make observations; these, being attacked with javelins, retreated to their friends. Skirmishing parties then came forth from both sides; and whichever of these were repulsed, their fellows, being inflamed with indignation, came up in greater numbers to their support. This is generally the prelude to engagements between the cavalry; hope encouraging the party which prevails, and rage exasperating that which is worsted. Thus, on the present occasion, the fight having commenced between small divisions, the eagerness of the dispute drew out at length the whole force of cavalry on both sides. While the contest lay Edition: current; Page: [163] entirely between these, the Masæsylians, whom Syphax sent out in immense bodies, could hardly be withstood. Afterwards the Roman infantry, rushing in suddenly between their own cavalry, who opened passages for them, gave firmness to their line, and terrified the enemy, who were advancing furiously to the charge. The barbarians at first pushed on their horses with less briskness; then halted, disconcerted somewhat by this new manner of fighting; at last, they not only gave way to the infantry, but did not dare to withstand even the horse, emboldened as they were by the support of the foot. And now, the battalions also of the legions approached, when the Masæsylians, so far from daring to meet their first attack, could not support even the sight of their ensigns and arms: so strongly were they affected, either by the recollection of their former calamities, or by the present danger. At this juncture Syphax, galloping up to try if, either by shame, or by the danger to which he was exposed, he could stop the flight of his men, being thrown from his horse, which was grievously wounded, was overpowered and taken, and dragged alive to Lælius;—a sight grateful to Masinissa above all others. To Cirtha, the capital of Syphax’s kingdom, a vast multitude fled. The number of slain in that battle was less than in proportion to the greatness of the victory, because the cavalry only had been engaged. Not more than five thousand were killed; less than half that number taken, in an attack on their camp, to which the multitude had retired in dismay at the loss of their King.

XII. Masinissa declared, that “nothing could be more highly gratifying to him, now that he was victorious, after so long a struggle, than to revisit his paternal kingdom: but that the present happy situation of his affairs required activity, as much as his former misfortunes. If Lælius would permit him to go on, before him, to Cirtha, with the cavalry, and Syphax as his prisoner, he would strike such terror, Edition: current; Page: [164] while the enemy were in confusion and dismay, as would crush all opposition; and that Lælius might follow, with the infantry, by easy marches.” Lælius assenting, he went forward to Cirtha, and ordered the principal inhabitants to be invited to a conference. But, as they were ignorant of their King’s misfortune, neither his relation of what had passed, nor his threats, nor persuasions, wrought any effect, until Syphax was produced to their view in chains. This shocking sight excited a general lamentation; some, in a panic, deserted the walls, others hastily agreed to endeavour to gain the favour of the conqueror, and opened the gates: whereupon Masinissa, having despatched guards to these and other parts of the fortifications, to prevent any person going out of the town, galloped on in full speed to take possession of the palace. As he entered the porch, Sophonisba, Syphax’s queen, daughter of Hasdrubal the Carthaginian, met him at the door; where, seeing Masinissa in the midst of a band of armed men, distinguished by his arms and apparel, and judging rightly that he was the King, she fell at his knees, and thus addressed him: “The favour of the gods, added to your own valour and good fortune, has given you absolute power to dispose of us. But if, in the presence of the sovereign disposer of her life and death, a captive may be allowed to utter the words of a suppliant, to touch his knees, or victorious right hand, I entreat and beseech you, by the majesty of a King, of which we also were just now possessed; by the name of the Numidian race, which is common to you and Syphax; by the guardian gods of this palace, who, I hope, will receive you with better omens than they sent Syphax hence, grant so much favour to your suppliant, as that you will, yourself, determine whatever you may think proper concerning your captive, and not suffer me to fall under the haughty and cruel disposal of any Roman. Were I nothing more than the wife of Syphax, I had much Edition: current; Page: [165] rather trust to the honour of a Numidian, one born in the same country with me, than to a foreigner, and from a distant part of the world: but what a Carthaginian, what the daughter of Hasdrubal, has reason to dread from a Roman, is manifest to you. If you cannot by any other means, I implore and beseech you, that you will, by my death, secure me from the power of the Romans.” She was remarkably beautiful, and in the full bloom of youth: so that, while she pressed his right hand, and implored his protection only so far, as that she should not be delivered up to any Roman, her discourse was more like caresses than entreaty; and the conqueror’s mind was not only subdued to pity, but, as all the Numidians are extremely amorous, the victorious King became the slave of his captive*: and, giving his right hand, as a pledge for the performance of what she had requested, he went into the palace. Immediately, he began to consider within himself, by what means he might fulfil his engagement; and not being able to devise any, he adopted a rash and shameful resolution, suggested by his love. He gave orders that every thing should be instantly prepared for a marriage on that same day, in order that he might leave no room for Lælius, or Scipio himself, to proceed against her as a captive, since she would then be his wife. After the marriage was concluded, Lælius arrived; and so far was he from dissembling his disapprobation of the proceeding, that at first he even resolved to drag her from the nuptial bed, and send her with Syphax to Scipio: but he was afterwards prevailed on by the entreaties of Masinissa, who besought him to leave it to the Romans to determine, which of the Edition: current; Page: [166] two kings should have Sophonisba a sharer of his fortune. Sending away, therefore, Syphax and the other prisoners, he reduced, with the assistance of Masinissa, all the cities of Numidia, which were held by the King’s garrisons.

XIII. When it was announced, that the detachment was bringing Syphax to the camp, the whole multitude poured out, as if to the sight of a triumph. He preceded the rest in chains, and was followed by a number of noble Numidians. On this occasion, every one spoke in the most exalted terms of the greatness of Syphax, and the fame of his nation; thus exaggerating the renown of their victory. “That was the King,” they said, “to whose dignity the two most powerful states in the world, the Roman and Carthaginian, had paid such deference; that for the sake of procuring his friendship, their own general, Scipio, leaving his province and his army, sailed with only two quinqueremes to Africa; and the Carthaginian general, Hasdrubal, not only visited his kingdom, but also gave him his daughter in marriage. That the Roman and Carthaginian generals had been within his grasp at one and the same time. That as both parties had, by the offer of sacrifices, solicited the favour of the immortal gods, so his friendship had been equally sought for by both. That he lately possessed power so great as to enable him to expel Masinissa from his kingdom; and to reduce him to such a state, that his life was preserved by a report of his death, and by lurking in concealment, while he was obliged, like a wild beast, to live in the woods on prey.” Such were the discourses of the throng, through which the King was led to the general’s quarters. Scipio was moved on comparing the former situation of the man with the present; and also by the recollection of their connection in hospitality, of their right hands pledged, and the treaty concluded between themselves and their states. These circumstances gave Syphax courage in addressing his conqueror. For, when Scipio asked him, Edition: current; Page: [167] “what had been his views in not only renouncing his alliance with the Romans, but even making war on them?” he answered, that “he had indeed erred, or rather acted under an impulse of insanity; but not at that time, principally, when he took up arms against the Romans: that was the consequence of his madness, not the actual beginning of it. That he was indeed mad, when he banished from his thoughts all the ties of private friendship and public leagues; and when he received a Carthaginian wife into his house. By those nuptial torches, his palace had been set in flames; that mischievous fury had, by every kind of allurement, perverted his judgment, and led it astray; nor ever desisted, until with her own hands she clad him in detestable arms against his guest and his friend. Yet, ruined and hopeless as he was, he felt some comfort in his misfortunes, from seeing that pestilent woman removed into the house and family of his bitterest enemy. Adding, that Masinissa possessed neither more prudence nor firmness than himself. His youth, indeed, had made him incautious; but there was evidently more folly and rashness in the latter marriage than in his.”

XIV. These words, dictated not merely by animosity towards his enemy, but by anguish on seeing the woman whom he had loved in the possession of his rival, impressed the mind of Scipio with no small degree of solicitude. He was, however, the more induced to listen to Syphax, from the marriage having been hurried forward, in the midst of arms, without either consulting or waiting for Lælius; and from Masinissa’s haste, for on the very day in which he had seen Sophonisba made prisoner, he had contracted matrimony with her, and performed the nuptial sacrifice, in presence of the household gods of his enemy. These proceedings appeared to Scipio the more heinous, because he himself, when in Spain, and when a very young man, had not allowed himself to be moved by the beauty of any captive whatever. While he was revolving Edition: current; Page: [168] these circumstances in his mind, Lælius and Masinissa arrived, to both of whom he gave the same kind reception; and afterwards made known their conduct, with the highest praises, in a full assembly. Then retiring with Masinissa to a private place, he thus addressed him: “I suppose, Masinissa, that in first coming to Spain for the purpose of contracting a friendship with me; and afterwards in Africa, submitting yourself, and all your concerns, to my protection; you must have been influenced by some good qualities which I was said to possess. Now, of those virtues which made you think my favour worth soliciting, there is not one, on which I value myself so much, as temperance and the government of my passions. I wish, Masinissa, that to your other excellent qualifications, you had added this one also. There is not so much danger, believe me there is not, to persons of our time of life, from armed foes, as from the pleasures which every where surround us. He who has curbed and reduced his passions to subjection, has really acquired to himself much greater glory, and a far more honourable victory, than that which we now enjoy in our conquest of Syphax. The instances of courage and conduct, which you displayed while I was not present, I have mentioned with pleasure, and I retain a proper sense of them. As to other matters, I rather wish that you would review them in your own mind, than that you should blush at my recital of them. Syphax has been subdued and taken under the auspices of the Roman people: therefore he, his wife, his kingdom, his territories, his towns, and the inhabitants of them; in short, whatever was the property of Syphax, is now the prize of that people. Both the King and his wife, even though she were not a citizen of Carthage, and we had not seen her father heading the enemy’s army, ought to have been sent to Rome, where the Roman state should have had the power of judging and determining, concerning her—a woman who is said to have seduced Edition: current; Page: [169] a king in alliance with us, and to have precipitated him into the war. Restrain your feelings. Beware, lest by one vice you disparage a number of good qualities, and destroy the credit of so many meritorious deeds by a fault, too great to be palliated, even by the occasion of it.”

XV. On hearing this discourse, not only Masinissa’s countenance was suffused with blushes, but he even burst into tears; and after declaring, that “in future he would be directed entirely by Scipio,” and entreating him, “as far as the affair would permit, to consider the obligation into which he had rashly entered, not to give the Queen into the power of any one,” he retired in confusion from the general’s tent to his own. There, dismissing his attendants, he spent some time in sighs and moans, which could be heard distinctly by those who stood without. At last, having uttered a deep groan, he called one of his servants, in whom he confided, and who had the charge of the poison, which, according to the custom of kings, is kept against the uncertainties of fortune, and ordered him to mix some in a cup; to carry it to Sophonisba; and to tell her at the same time, that “Masinissa would gladly have fulfilled the first obligation which he owed her,—that due from a husband to his wife: but that, since those, who had the power, had not left that in his option, he now performed his second engagement, that she should not come alive into the hands of the Romans. He, therefore, requested her to remember her father, the general, her country, and the two kings to whom she had been married; and to take such steps as she should judge proper.” When the servant, carrying this message and the poison, came to Sophonisba,—“I receive” said she, “this nuptial present, by no means an unacceptable one, if my husband has not the power to perform more for his wife. Tell him, however, that I should have died better, had I not married in the very moment of my funeral.” The firmness with which she Edition: current; Page: [170] spoke, was not greater than the resolution with which she received, and drank off, the contents of the cup. When Scipio was informed of this event, dreading, lest the young man, whose passions were violent, might, in the present disorder of his mind, take some desperate measure, he sent for him instantly; and at one time consoled, at another gently chid him, for having atoned one act of rashness by another, and for having rendered the affair more horrid than was necessary. Next day, in order to divert his thoughts from the object which, at the present, distressed him, he mounted his tribunal, and ordered an assembly to be summoned. There, after he had first honoured Masinissa with the title of King, and passed high encomiums on his merit, he presented to him a golden crown, a golden goblet, a curule chair, an ivory sceptre, an embroidered robe, and a vest striped with purple; enhancing the honour by saying, that “among the Romans there was nothing more magnificent than a triumph, and that those, who were so distinguished, had not a more splendid dress than that of which Masinissa alone, of all foreigners, was esteemed worthy by the Roman people.” Lælius also he highly commended, and presented with a golden crown; and on others of the military he conferred gifts suitable to the services which they had performed. By these honours conferred on him, the King’s mind was soothed, and encouraged to hope that he should soon be in possession of the whole extent of Numidia, now that Syphax was removed out of his way.

XVI. Scipio, sending Caius Lælius, with Syphax and the other prisoners, to Rome, with whom went also ambassadors from Masinissa, led back his troops to Tunes, and completed the fortifications which he had begun some time before. The Carthaginians, who had been filled with a short-lived joy, on account of their success in the attack on the Roman fleet, (and which in their then circumstances they had considered as Edition: current; Page: [171] important,) on hearing of the capture of Syphax, in whom they had placed more of their hopes than in Hasdrubal and their own army, were struck with dismay, and would listen no longer to any who advised to continue the war; but sent, as their agents to sue for peace, thirty of the principal elders. These compose the assembly of the highest dignity among them, having the principal control over the senate itself. Arriving at the general’s tent, they prostrated themselves, like those who humbly fawn on kings, having learned that mode, I suppose, from the country whence they derived their origin. Their discourse was suitable to such servile adulation, not attempting to apologize for their conduct, but transferring the blame on Hannibal, and the favourers of his violent measures. They implored pardon for their state, which had been twice ruined by the rashness of its citizens, and would a second time be indebted for its restoration to the generosity of an enemy: they observed, that “the Roman people sought dominion over the conquered, not their destruction; and declared themselves ready to pay implicit obedience to any commands which their subjugators should be pleased to impose.” Scipio told them, that “he had come into Africa with the expectation, which had been farther encouraged by the happy fortune of his army, of carrying home conquest, not peace. That, however, although he had conquest within his reach, yet he did not reject peace; that all nations might know, that the Roman people were guided by the principles of justice, both in undertaking and concluding wars. That these were the terms of peace which he prescribed:—That they should give up the prisoners, deserters, and fugitives; withdraw their armies from Italy and Gaul; renounce all pretensions to Spain; retire from all the islands which lie between Italy and Africa, deliver up all their ships of war, except twenty, and furnish five hundred thousand measures of wheat, and three hundred thousand of barley.” What sum Edition: current; Page: [172] of money he demanded, authors are not agreed. In some, I find five thousand talents*; in others, five thousand pounds weight of silver; while it is also said, that double pay of the troops was imposed. “Three days,” said he, “shall be allowed you to consider whether you approve of peace on these conditions. If you do approve of it, then make a truce with me, and send ambassadors to Rome to the senate.” The Carthaginians, thus dismissed, thought it advisable to submit to any terms, as the only object they had in view was to gain time, until Hannibal should come over to Africa; and therefore they sent ambassadors to Scipio, to conclude a truce, and others to Rome to solicit peace. These carried with them a few prisoners, deserters, and fugitives, to make a show of obedience, and that they might attain their object with the less difficulty.

XVII. Lælius, with Syphax and the principal Numidian prisoners, arrived at Rome several days before them, and related, in order, to the senate the several transactions which had passed in Africa. Great was the rejoicing, on account of the present state of affairs, and the most sanguine hopes were entertained with respect to the future. The senate then, on the business being proposed, ordered that the King should be sent prisoner to Alba, and that Lælius should be detained until the arrival of the Carthaginian ambassadors. A supplication for four days was decreed. Publius Ælius, prætor, when the senate broke up, called an assembly of the people, and ascended the rostrum, with Caius Lælius. There on hearing that the Carthaginian armies had been routed; so renowned a monarch as Syphax vanquished and made prisoner; and conquest extended, with extraordinary success, over every part of Numidia, the people could not contain their joy, but by shouts, and other methods usually practised Edition: current; Page: [173] by the multitude, expressed immoderate transports. The prætor, therefore immediately issued orders, that the keepers should open the temples in every part of the city; and that all should be allowed, during the whole day, to go round them, and pay their worship and thanks to the gods. On the day following, he introduced Masinissa’s ambassadors, who first congratulated the senate on the success of Publius Scipio in Africa; then gave thanks for his having “not only honoured Masinissa with the title of King, but made him one, by reinstating him on the throne of his father; where (now that Syphax was removed) he had, if it so pleased the senate, a prospect of reigning without contest or apprehension; they likewise made their acknowledgments for praises he had bestowed on him in the assembly, and for the very magnificent presents with which he had loaded him.” They added, “that Masinissa had exerted his best endeavours to appear not unworthy of those favours, and would continue so to do. They then requested the senate to confirm by their decree the title of King, and the other distinguished marks conferred on him by Scipio; telling them that their monarch further entreated, that, if it so pleased them, the Numidian prisoners then at Rome might be sent home,—a circumstance which would do him high honour among his countrymen.” The senate made answer, “that congratulations on the successes in Africa ought in the confederates to be mutual; that Scipio appeared to have acted properly and regularly, in giving to their Numidian ally the title of King; and that whatever else he should do grateful to Masinissa, the senate ratified and approved it.” They then ordered the prætor to prepare the following presents for the King:—two purple robes with a golden clasp and vests, with broad purple borders; two horses with trappings; two suits of horseman’s armour, with coats of mail; with tents and camp furniture, such as is customary to provide for a consul. Donatives were also voted Edition: current; Page: [174] for the ambassadors, not less than five thousand asses* to each; for their attendants a thousand asses†; two suits of apparel to each of the ambassadors, one to each of their attendants, and the same to the Numidians, who were to be freed from imprisonment, and sent back to the King. Besides which, they ordered entire suits of apartments and entertainment for the embassy.

XVIII. In the course of the summer, during which those transactions passed in Africa, and these decrees at Rome, Publius Quintilius Varus, prætor, and Marcus Cornelius, proconsul, fought a pitched battle with Mago the Carthaginian in the country of the Insubrian Gauls. The prætor’s legions were in the first line; Cornelius kept his in reserve, placing himself in the front. The prætor and proconsul exhorted the soldiers to make the attack with the utmost vigour. Finding that they made no impression on the Carthaginian line, Quintilius said to Cornelius, “The battle flags, as you may perceive; and the enemy, finding themselves able to make resistance beyond what they had hoped, are hardened against fear, and it is well if they do not assume boldness; we must bear down with the cavalry, if we expect to disorder or drive them from their ground. Do you, therefore, support the battle in front, and I will bring up the horse; or I will take care of matters here, while you charge with the cavalry of the four legions.” The proconsul offering to undertake either part of the business, as the prætor should direct, Quintilius the prætor, with his son Marcus, a youth of a high and ardent spirit, took the command of the cavalry, and having ordered them to mount their horses, led them on instantly to the charge. The confusion occasioned by these was increased by the shouts of the legions; nor would the Carthaginian line have stood their ground, had not Mago immediately Edition: current; Page: [175] brought up the elephants to the fight, having kept them in readiness against the first motion which the horse should make. By the snorting and sight of these animals, the horses were frightened to such a degree, as rendered the aid of the cavalry of no effect. As the Roman horseman had the advantage in point of strength, when in close fight, and when he could use his javelin and sword hand to hand; so the Numidian had the better in darting javelins at him from a distance, and when his horse’s fright would not suffer him to advance. Among the infantry, the twelfth legion having lost the greater part of their number, kept their ground, rather through shame, than that they had strength to maintain it. They must soon, however, have fallen back, had not the thirteenth legion, led up from the reserve to the front, supported the doubtful conflict. Mago, at the same time, brought up to oppose this fresh legion, the Gauls, drawn also from his reserve. These being routed without much difficulty, the spearmen of the eleventh legion formed themselves into a circular body, and attacked the elephants, which were now throwing the line of infantry into confusion; and, by discharging their spears at them, hardly any of which were thrown in vain, as the heasts were close together, they turned them all upon the line of their own party. Four of them, overpowered with wounds, fell. On this, the first line of the enemy began to give way; when all the infantry, seeing the elephants turning about, rushed on in order to increase the terror and confusion. As long, however, as Mago stood at the head of the troops, the ranks, retreating leisurely, kept up the spirit of the battle; but when they saw him fall on receiving a wound through his thigh, and carried lifeless out of the field, instantly all betook themselves to flight. There were five thousand Carthaginians slain on that day, and twenty-two military ensigns taken. Nor was the victory bloodless on the side of the Romans two thousand three Edition: current; Page: [176] hundred men of the prætor’s army were lost, by far the greater part of whom were of the twelfth legion; of which legion also fell two military tribunes, Marcus Cosconius and Marcus Mænius. Of the thirteenth legion, likewise, which had shared the latter part of the engagement, Cneius Helvius, military tribune, was slain while employed in restoring the fight. There perished, besides, thirty-two horsemen of some distinction, who were trodden down by the elephants, together with some centurions. Probably the contest would not have been so soon ended, had not the wound of their general made the enemy retire from the field.

XIX. Mago, setting out during the silence of the next night, and making as long journeys as his wound allowed him to bear, arrived at the sea-coast, in the country of the Ingaunian Ligurians. There the deputies from Carthage, who had a few days before arrived with the ships in the Gallic bay, waited on him, and delivered orders to him, to pass over to Africa as soon as possible; informing him, that his brother Hannibal, to whom messengers had been also sent, would do the same, for the affairs of the Carthaginians were not in a condition to hold possession of Gaul and Italy by arms. Mago was not only moved by the commands of the senate, and the danger that threatened his country, but dreaded lest, if he delayed, he might be hard pressed by the victorious enemy; and, also, lest the Ligurians themselves, seeing that the Carthaginians were about to relinquish Italy, might revolt to those under whose power they must speedily fall. He, at the same time, entertained hopes, that his wound might be less irritated on board a ship than on land, and that he might there be able to attend to the cure of it with more convenience. Embarking, therefore, his troops, he set sail, and had scarcely passed Sardinia when he died: on the coast of which island, several Carthaginian ships, which had been dispersed, were taken by the Roman fleet. Such were the Edition: current; Page: [177] occurrences by land and sea, on that side of Italy nearest to the Alps. The consul Cneius Servilius performed nothing memorable in Etruria, or in Gaul (for he had advanced into that country,) except that he rescued from slavery, which they had endured for sixteen years, his father Caius Servilius, and his uncle Caius Lutatius, who had been taken by the Boians at the village of Tanetum. He returned to Rome, accompanied by these on each side of him, distinguished rather by family-badges than public services. It was proposed to the people, that “Cneius Servilius should not be subject to penalty, for having, contrary to the laws, during the life of his father (a circumstance of which he was at that time ignorant,) and who sat in the curule chair, accepted the offices of tribune of the commons, and plebeian ædile;” this being admitted, he returned to his province. Consentia, Uffugum, Vergæ, Besidiæ, Hetriculum, Sypheum, Argentanum, Clampetia, and many other small states, perceiving that the Carthaginians grew languid in their operations, came over to Cneius Servilius, the consul, then in Bruttium; and who had fought a battle with Hannibal in the district of Croton, of which we have no clear account. Valerius Antias says, that five thousand of the enemy were slain. This is a circumstance of such importance, that either it must be an impudent fiction, or they were guilty of great negligence who omitted mentioning it. It is certain, that Hannibal made no farther efforts in Italy, for deputies came to him from Carthage, recalling him to Africa, nearly at the same time with Mago.

XX. Hannibal is said to have been thrown into the most violent agitation, and scarcely to have refrained from shedding tears, on hearing the words of the deputies. When they had delivered the orders, which they had in charge, he said,—“Now, indeed, they recall me, not in ambiguous terms, but openly, who have, for a long time past, been dragging Edition: current; Page: [178] me home, by refusing me supplies both of men and money. It is not the Roman people, so often discomfited and routed, that has conquered Hannibal, but the Carthaginian senate, through the malicious suggestions of envy; nor will Scipio exult, and pride himself, so much in this my disgraceful retreat, as will Hanno; who, unable to do it by any other means, has crushed our family under the ruins of Carthage.” As he had, for some time, foreseen this event, he had ships already prepared: dismissing, therefore, a useless crowd of soldiers, under the appearance of garrisons, into the towns of Bruttium, a few of which adhered to him rather through fear than affection, he carried over to Africa such of the troops as were fit for service. A great number of natives of Italy, refusing to follow him to Africa, and flying to the sanctuary of Juno Lacinia, which, till that day, had never been violated, were barbarously put to death within the walls of the temple. We are told, that hardly any person ever showed more grief on leaving his native soil, to go into exile, than Hannibal on his departure from the country of his enemy; that he often looked back on the coasts of Italy, inveighing against gods and men, uttering curses on his own head, for not having led his men to Rome, yet reeking with blood from the slaughter at Cannæ: reflecting, with the bitterest vexation, that Scipio, who, since his appointment to the consulship, had not looked in the face of the Carthaginian enemy in Italy, had yet spirit to go and attack Carthage; while he, who had slain a hundred thousand fighting men at Thrasimenus and Cannæ, had suffered his strength to moulder away about Casilinum, Cumæ, and Nola. In the midst of such self-reproaches and complaints, he was forced away from Italy, in which he had so long maintained a divided power with the Romans.

XXI. News was brought to Rome at the same time, that both Mago and Hannibal had departed for Africa. But the Edition: current; Page: [179] exultation of the people was diminished by the reflection, that the Roman commanders had shown a want either of spirit or of strength, in not preventing such departure, though they had received orders to that purpose from the senate. They had also much anxiety concerning the final issue of affairs, now that the whole weight of the war fell upon one general and his army. About the same time, ambassadors arrived from Saguntum, bringing with them some Carthaginians who had come over to Spain to hire auxiliaries, and whom they had seized, together with their money. They laid down, in the porch of the senate-house, two hundred and fifty pounds weight of gold, and eighty of silver. The agents were thrown into prison; the gold and silver were returned, and thanks given to the Saguntines; presents were made to them besides, and ships provided to convey them home to Spain. Some of the older senators then observed, that “men had less lively sensations of good than of evil. Did they remember what terror and consternation Hannibal’s coming into Italy had excited? What losses they had sustained, and what lamentations had followed? When the Carthaginian camp was seen from the walls of the city, what vows were then offered up by each particular person, and by the whole body of the people! How often, in their assemblies, were their hands stretched out towards heaven, and exclamations heard—O! will that day ever arrive, when we shall see Italy cleared of the enemy, and blessed once more with the enjoyment of peace? That now, at length, in the sixteenth year, the gods had granted their wish, and yet not the slightest proposal had been made, of returning thanks to the gods. So deficient are men in gratitude, even at the time when a favour is received; and much less are they apt to retain a proper sense of it afterwards.” Immediately, a general exclamation broke forth from every part of the senate-house, that Publius Ælius, the prætor, should take the sense of the senate on the subject; Edition: current; Page: [180] and a decree passed, that a supplication should be solemnized in all the temples for five days, and a hundred and twenty of the greater victims offered in sacrifice.

XXII. After Lælius and Masinissa’s ambassadors were dismissed, accounts were brought, that the Carthaginian ambassadors, who were coming to treat of peace, had been seen at Puteoli, and would proceed from thence by land: on which the senate resolved, that Caius Lælius should be recalled, in order that he might be present at the proceedings. Quintus Fulvius Gillo, a lieutenant-general under Scipio, conducted the Carthaginians to Rome, but they were forbidden to enter the city. Apartments were provided for them in the Villa Publica, and an audience of the senate was granted them in the temple of Bellona. Their discourse was nearly the same with that which they had made to Scipio, throwing off all the blame of the war from the community, and laying it on Hannibal. They affirmed, that “he had acted contrary to the orders of the senate, not only in passing the Alps, but even in crossing the Iberus; and that he had, without any authority from them, made war, not only upon the Romans, but, before that, on the Saguntines: that, if the facts were duly considered, the senate and people of Carthage had, to that day, inviolably observed the treaty with the Romans. Therefore they had nothing farther in charge, than to request, that they might be allowed to abide by the terms of the peace which had been lately concluded with the consul Lutatius.” The prætor, according to the established custom, giving permission to the senators to make such inquiries of the ambassadors as any of them thought proper; the older members, who had been present at the concluding of the treaties, asked various questions relative to them. The Carthaginians replied, that they were not of an age to remember particulars (for almost all of them were young): on which, the house resounded with exclamations, that Punic faith was evident, Edition: current; Page: [181] in appointing such men as these to solicit the renewal of a former peace, with the terms of which they were themselves unacquainted.

XXIII. The ambassadors being ordered to withdraw, the senators proceeded to give their opinions. Marcus Livius recommended, that “Cneius Servilius, the consul who was the nearer home, should be sent for, to be present at the proceedings; for, as no subject of greater importance than the present could ever come under their consideration, so he did not think it consistent with the dignity of the Roman people, that an affair of such magnitude should be transacted in the absence of both the consuls.” Quintus Metellus, who three years before had been consul, and had also been dictator, proposed, that “whereas Publius Scipio, by destroying the armies of the enemy, and wasting their country, had reduced them to such necessity, that they sued for peace. No person whatever could be a more competent judge of their intention in making the application, and therefore they should be wholly directed by the advice of that general, who was carrying on the war under the walls of Carthage.” Marcus Valerius Lævinus, who had been twice consul, charged those men with being come as spies, and not as ambassadors; and advised, that “they should be ordered to depart from Italy; that guards should be sent with them to their ships; and that orders should be sent to Scipio, not to intermit his operations.” Lælius and Fulvius added, that “Scipio had grounded his hopes of success on Hannibal and Mago not being recalled from Italy. That the Carthaginians would feign a compliance with any measures, while they waited for the arrival of those generals and their armies; and would, afterwards, forgetting all gods, and all treaties, however recent, pursue the war.” This observation made them more readily concur in the opinion of Lævinus. The ambassadors were therefore dismissed, and almost without an answer.

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XXIV. About the same time, the consul Cneius Servilius, not doubting but that he should enjoy the glory of having restored peace to Italy, passed over into Sicily in pursuit of Hannibal, (as if he himself had compelled him to retreat,) intending to proceed from thence to Africa. As soon as this became known at Rome, the senate at first voted, that the prætor should write to the consul, that they required him to return to Italy. Afterwards, on the prætor’s assuring them that Servilius would pay no regard to his letter, Publius Sulpicius, being created dictator for the purpose, recalled the consul by virtue of his superior authority; and then, with Marcus Servilius, master of the horse, he spent the remainder of the year in going round to the cities which had forfeited their allegiance during the war, and examining into the conduct of each. During the continuance of the truce, a hundred transports, with stores, under the convoy of twenty ships of war, sent from Sardinia by Lentulus the prætor, arrived safe in Africa, without meeting any obstruction, either from the enemy or bad weather. Cneius Octavius, who sailed from Sicily with two hundred transports, and thirty ships of war, had not the same good fortune. His voyage was prosperous, until he came almost within sight of Africa, when the wind at first subsided into a calm; then, springing up heavily from the south-west, his ships were dispersed on all sides. He himself, with the ships of war, struggling through the opposing waves, with excessive toil to the rowers, made the promontory of Apollo: the transports were most of them driven to Ægimurus, an island stretching across the mouth of the bay on which Carthage stands, distant from the city about thirty miles; the rest towards that part of it where the hot baths are found. All this happened within view of Carthage, and occasioned a concourse of people from all parts, in the Forum. The magistrates assembled the senate; the multitude in the porch of the senate-house expressed aloud their uneasiness, Edition: current; Page: [183] lest so great a booty should be allowed to escape out of their hands. Although some objected, that their faith was pledged in having sued for peace, others in their having agreed to a truce, and which had not yet expired, yet the assembly, being composed of nearly an equal number of the populace as of senators, came to a resolution, that Hasdrubal should go to Ægimurus with a fleet of fifty sail, and proceed from thence to pick up the scattered ships of the Romans, in the several harbours, and along the coasts. First, the transports from Ægimurus, abandoned by the mariners, who effected their escape, were towed to Carthage; afterwards those from the baths.

XXV. The ambassadors had not yet returned from Rome, nor was it known what were the sentiments of the Roman senate concerning war or peace; neither was the term of the truce expired. Scipio, on this account, more highly resented the injury offered by those who had petitioned for peace, and the truce; and, considering it as breaking off the negociations, and an infraction of the truce, he instantly sent Marcus Bæbius, Lucius Sergius, and Lucius Fabius, ambassadors to Carthage. These, having narrowly escaped suffering violence from the populace, and still apprehending themselves exposed to danger, applied to the magistrates, who had protected them from ill-treatment, for a guard of ships on their return. Two triremes were assigned them; which, as soon as they came to the river Bagrada, from whence there was a view of the Roman camp, returned to Carthage. There was a Carthaginian fleet stationed at Utica, from which two quadriremes were sent, either in consequence of private orders from Carthage, or Hasdrubal, who commanded that fleet, (for the infraction was unauthorized by the public,) and which suddenly attacked the Roman quinquereme, as it came round the promontory. The Carthaginian vessels attempted to strike the Roman with their prows, but which they could not effect by reason of its activity, nor could the fighting men Edition: current; Page: [184] leap from those lower ships into the higher ones. The quinquereme was gallantly defended, as long as weapons lasted. These, however, spent, there was nothing that could save them, but the land being near, and the multitude which poured out from the camp to the coast. They, therefore, pressed forward, using their utmost efforts with their oars; and running on shore, the men escaped, but the ship was entirely lost. After the truce had been thus broken, by outrage after outrage, Lælius and Fulvius arrived from Rome, with the Carthaginian ambassadors. To these Scipio declared, that “although the Carthaginians had violated not only their faith pledged in the truce, but also the laws of nations respecting ambassadors, yet they should meet no treatment from him unbecoming the maxims of the Roman people, and his own principles;” and thus dismissing them, he prepared for war. Hannibal now drew nigh the land, when one of the sailors was ordered to climb the mast, and discover what part of the country they were arrived at; and on his saying that their course pointed to a ruined sepulchre, the Carthaginian, struck with the ill omen, ordered the pilot to steer past that place, put in his fleet at Leptis, and there disembarked his forces.

XXVI. These were the transactions in Africa during that year; those which follow belong to the period in which Marcus Servilius Geminus, who was then master of the horse, and Tiberius Claudius Nero, were consuls. However, towards the end of the former year deputies arrived from the allied cities of Greece. They complained, that their lands were ravaged by Philip’s garrisons; and that their ambassadors, who had gone into Macedonia to solicit reparation of their injuries, had not been admitted to the presence of the King. At the same time, they gave information, that four thousand soldiers, under the command of Sopater, had gone over to Africa, and were marching to the assistance of the Carthaginians; and that some money also had been sent with Edition: current; Page: [185] them; whereupon the senate ordered, that an embassy should be sent to the King, to acquaint him, that the senate considered those proceedings as contrary to the treaty subsisting between them. Caius Terentius Varro, Caius Mamilius, and Marcus Aurelius, were despatched on this business, with an escort of three quinqueremes. That year was remarkable for a great fire, by which the buildings on the Publician hill were burned to the ground; and also for an uncommon overflowing of the rivers: but provisions were plentiful, because, in consequence of peace, all parts of Italy were open for importation; and besides, a great quantity of corn, which had been sent from Spain, was delivered out to the inhabitants, at the easy rate of four asses a bushel, by the curule ædiles, Marcus Valerius Falto, and Marcus Fabius Buteo. In the same year died Quintus Fabius Maximus, in extreme old age, if it be true, as some writers affirm, that he had been augur for sixty-two years. He was certainly a man worthy of the great surname which he bore, even if he were the first to whom it was applied. He surpassed his father, and was equal to his grandfather, in the honourable posts which he filled. His grandfather, Rullus, was distinguished by a greater number of victories, and greater battles; but the actions of Fabius, having such an antagonist as Hannibal, may be considered as equivalent to them all. He was deemed to possess more caution than spirit: but though it may be doubted, whether the dilatoriness of his conduct arose from his natural disposition, or from a conviction that it was best suited to the war in which he was engaged; yet nothing is more certain, than that this man alone, as the poet Ennis says, by his delays retrieved our affairs. Quintus Fabius Maximus, his son, was consecrated augur in his place, and Servius Sulpicius Galba pontiff, in his place also; for he held two offices in the college of priests. The Roman games were repeated for one day; the plebeian thrice repeated entire, by Edition: current; Page: [186] the curule ædiles, Marcus Sextius Sabinus, and Caius Tremellius Flaccus. Both of these were elected prætors, and, with them, Caius Livius Salinator, and Caius Aurelius Cotta. The different accounts given by writers render it uncertain whether Caius Servilius, consul, presided at the elections that year, or Publius Sulpicius, nominated dictator by him, because he himself was detained in Etruria, being employed, pursuant to a decree of the senate, in holding inquisitions relative to the conspiracies of the principal inhabitants.

Y.R. 550. bc 202.XXVII. In the beginning of the following year, Marcus Servilius and Tiberius Claudius, summoning the senate to the Capitol, consulted them concerning the provinces. Both were desirous of obtaining Africa; they therefore wished that Italy and Africa should be disposed of by lot: but this was opposed, though by Quintus Metellus chiefly. The consuls were ordered to apply to the tribunes, to take the sense of the people, as to who should conduct the war in Africa. All the tribes concurred in appointing Publius Scipio. Nevertheless the consuls put the province of Africa to the lot, for so the senate had decreed, and it fell to Tiberius Claudius, who was to carry to Africa a fleet of fifty ships, all quinqueremes, with authority equal to that of Scipio. Marcus Servilius obtained Etruria; and in the same province, the command was continued to Caius Servilius, if the senate thought proper that the consul should remain in the city. Of the prætors, Marcus Sextius obtained Gaul, where Publius Quintilius Varus was to deliver to him two legions with the province; Caius Livius, Bruttium, with the two legions which Publius Sempronius, proconsul, had commanded the year before; Cneius Tremellius, Sicily, with directions to receive from Publius Villius Tappulus, prætor of the former year, the province and two legions; Villius, as proprætor, was appointed to protect the coast of Sicily with twenty ships of war and one thousand troops; Marcus Pomponius Edition: current; Page: [187] to convey from thence to Rome, with the remaining twenty ships, one thousand five hundred soldiers. The city jurisdiction fell to Caius Aurelius Cotta: the rest were continued in their provinces, and with the armies to which they were first appointed. Not more than sixteen legions were employed that year in the service of the empire. In order to conciliate the favour of the gods to all their undertakings and proceedings, it was ordered that the consuls should, before they set out to the campaign, celebrate those games, and with the greater victims, which Titus Manlius, dictator, in the consulate of Marcus Claudius Marcellus, and Titus Quintus had vowed, provided the commonwealth should for the next five years continue in the same state. The games were exhibited in the Circus during four days, and the victims sacrificed to the gods to whom they had been vowed.

XXVIII. Meanwhile, both hope and anxiety daily increased in equal proportion; nor could people judge with certainty, whether it was a proper subject of rejoicing, that Hannibal had, at the end of sixteen years, departed from Italy, and thereby left the possession of it open to the Roman people, or whether they had not rather cause of fear, in his having carried his army safe into Africa. They considered, that although the place was “changed, the danger was still the same. That Quintus Fabius, lately deceased, who foretold the violence of this struggle, had grounds for what he further presaged, namely, that Hannibal would prove a more formidable enemy in his own country than he had been in a foreign one. Scipio, he said, would not have to deal with Syphax, a King of undisciplined barbarians, whose army had been sometimes commanded by Statorius, a man but little elevated above the condition of a slave; nor with such a dastardly general as his father-in-law, Hasdrubal; nor with tumultuary armies, hastily collected out of a crowd of armed rustics; but with Hannibal, a general of the greatest bravery; Edition: current; Page: [188] brought up from his infancy in the midst of arms; in his childhood a soldier; when scarcely arrived at the age of youth, a general: who had advanced to an old age, through a course of victories; had filled Spain, Gaul, and Italy, from the Alps to the streight, with monuments of his mighty atchievements; who was at the head of an army equally experienced in service with himself, hardened by having gone through every kind of difficulty, even beyond what men could be supposed to endure; which had been stained numberless times, with Roman blood, and had carried with them the spoils, not only of Roman soldiers, but of Roman commanders. That many would meet Scipio in battle, who with their own hands had slain prætors, generals, and consuls; who, in fine, were decorated with the highest military honours, accustomed as they were to ravage camps, and the cities of Italy; and that the magistrates of the Roman people were not in possession of such a number of fasces, as Hannibal could have carried before him, of those which had been taken from the generals who had fallen by his arms.” While their thoughts were employed in these discouraging considerations, their anxiety and fears were farther aggravated by other circumstances: for after being accustomed during several years to wage war in different parts of Italy, without any sanguine hopes or prospect of its speedy conclusion; Scipio and Hannibal, champions matched as it were for the final decision, had now raised their eagerest attention. Even those who had the greatest confidence in Scipio, and the strongest hopes of victory, the nearer they saw the completion of their wishes, the more was their solicitude heightened. In a similar manner were the minds of the Carthaginians affected; who, when they turned their eyes on Hannibal, and the greatness of his exploits, repented that they had sued for peace. Then recollecting that they had been twice vanquished in battle; that Syphax had been made prisoner; that they had been expelled Edition: current; Page: [189] from Spain; and finally, that they had been obliged to quit Italy for the defence of their own shores; and that all this had been effected by the valour and conduct of Scipio alone, they looked on him with terror, as a leader whose birth the fates had ordained for their destruction.

XXIX. Hannibal, in the mean time, arrived at Hadrumetum, and spent a few days there in refreshing his soldiers after the fatigues of the voyage; when, roused by the alarming accounts, that all the country round Carthage was possessed by the enemy’s troops, he advanced by long marches to Zama, which lies at the distance of five days’ journey from that city. Some spies whom he sent out, being intercepted by the Roman guards, and brought to Scipio, he gave them in charge to the military tribunes, with orders to conduct them through the camp, wherever they chose; he encouraged them to lay aside fear, and view every thing; and then, inquiring whether they had taken a satisfactory view of every particular, he gave them an escort back to Hannibal. Hannibal received no pleasure from any of their accounts. They informed him that Masinissa happened to arrive that very day with six thousand foot, and four thousand horse; and he was particularly struck by the confidence of the enemy, which, he well knew, was not conceived without reason. Wherefore, although he was himself the cause of the war, and had, by his coming, occasioned the violation of the truce, and the breaking off the negociations; yet, thinking that he might obtain more reasonable terms, by suing for peace while his strength was entire, than after being discomfited, he sent a message to Scipio, requesting a conference. Whether he took this step on his own judgment or by the order of the government, I cannot take upon me to affirm. Valerius Antias says, that after he had been defeated by Scipio in the first engagement, in which twelve thousand fighting men were slain, and one thousand seven hundred taken, he came as ambassador, with Edition: current; Page: [190] ten others, into the camp to Scipio. Scipio did not decline the conference; and the two generals, by concert, moved forward their camps, in order that they might the more conveniently meet. Scipio sat down at a small distance from the city Nedagara, in a spot every way commodious, besides having water within a javelin’s cast: Hannibal took possession of a hill, four miles distant; safe and convenient in all respects, except that there was no water near. In the space between them a spot was chosen, open to view on all sides, that there might be no room for treachery.

XXX. Their armed attendants having retired to an equal distance on both sides, here met (each attended by a signal interpreter) the two greatest generals, not only of the age they lived in, but of all who have been recorded in any former time, and equal to any of the kings or commanders of any nations whatever. On sight of each other they both stood, for some time, silent, struck dumb as it were by mutual admiration. At length, Hannibal began thus: “Since it has been so ordered by fate, that I, who first commenced hostilities against the Roman people, and have so often been on the point of making a conquest of them, should voluntarily come to sue for peace, I am glad that it is to you, rather than to any other person, that I am to apply. On your part too, among the many illustrious events of your life, it ought not to be reckoned the least glorious, that Hannibal, to whom the gods granted victory over so many Roman generals, has yielded to you; and that you put an end to this war, which was first rendered remarkable by the calamities of your country, before it was so by those of ours. Here also we may observe, the sport of fortune in the disposal of events, that, in the consulate of your father, I took up arms. He was the first Roman general with whom I engaged in battle, and to his son I now come unarmed to solicit peace. It were indeed above all things to be wished, that the gods had so disposed Edition: current; Page: [191] the minds of our fathers, that your countrymen had been contented with the dominion of Italy, and ours with that of Africa; for, even on your side, Sicily and Sardinia are not an adequate compensation for the loss of so many fleets, so many armies, so many excellent generals. But what is past, however it may be blamed, cannot be retrieved. Our attempts on the possessions of others have ended in our being necessitated to fight in defence of our own. Thus we not only brought war home to you in Italy, but to ourselves in Africa. You beheld the arms and ensigns of an enemy almost within your gates and on your walls; and we now, from the ramparts of Carthage, hear the din of a Roman camp. The event, therefore, for which we ought most earnestly to pray, and you to wish, above all things, now comes in view: you are negociating a peace in the midst of a successful career. We who negociate are the persons most interested in its establishment, and whose stipulations, whatever they may be, will certainly be ratified by our respective states. We want nothing but a disposition not averse from pacific counsels. For my part, so much instruction have I received from age, returning now an old man to my country, which I left a boy, and also both from prosperity and adversity, that I wish to follow reason rather than fortune. But your early time of life and uninterrupted flow of prosperity, both apt to inspire a degree of warmth ill suited to peaceful plans, excite in my mind very serious apprehensions. He whom fortune has never deceived, rarely considers the uncertainty of future events. What I was at Thrasimenus and at Cannæ, that you are at present. Appointed to a command at an age scarcely fit for service, though your enterprises were of the boldest nature, you were ever successful. By avenging the death of your father and uncle, you acquired a distinguished character of uncommon bravery and filial duty. You recovered Spain which had been lost, and drove out of it four Carthaginian Edition: current; Page: [192] armies. On being elected consul, when others wanted spirit sufficient to defend Italy, you passed into Africa; and, by there destroying two armies, by taking and burning two camps in one hour, by making a captive of Syphax, a most powerful king, and by seizing on so many of his cities, and so many of ours, you compelled me to relinquish the possession of Italy, which I had continued to hold for sixteen years. Perhaps your wishes tend rather to conquest, than to peace. I know the spirit of you Romans, that it ever aims at grand rather than useful objects. Fortune once shone on me with the same benign countenance. But if, along with prosperity, the gods would grant us a sound judgment, we should consider not only what had already happened, but what may possibly happen hereafter. Although you should forget all other instances, I am a sufficient example of every kind of fortune. Me, whom you formerly saw pitching my camp between the Anio and your city, and on the point of scaling the walls of Rome, you now behold here, under the walls of my native city, which is threatened with a siege; deprived of my two brothers, generals of consummate skill and valour; deprecating, in behalf of my own city, those calamities, by which formerly I struck terror into yours. The most exalted state of fortune is ever the least to be relied on. A peace concluded at a juncture wherein your affairs flourish, and ours are distressed, reflects splendour and dignity on you who grant it: to us, who request it, it is rather necessary, that honourable. A certain peace is better and safer than a victory in expectation: the former is in your own disposal, the latter in that of the gods. Risk not, on the chance of one hour, the happy successes of so many years. When you consider your own strength, recollect, at the same time, the chances of war. Arms there will be on both sides; but, on both sides, the bodies that contend will be but human. Events less correspond to men’s expectations in war, than in Edition: current; Page: [193] any other case whatever. Even supposing that you should gain the victory in battle, the proportion of glory which you would thereby acquire, in addition to what you may now securely enjoy on granting peace, would be, by no means, commensurate to that which you must lose, should any misfortune happen to you. The chance of but a single hour may destroy, at once, both the honours which you have attained, and those for which you hope. In the adjusting of matters, every thing, Publius Scipio, will be in your own power; in the other case, you must abide by the pleasure of the gods. Formerly, Marcus Atilius, in this same land, would have been celebrated among the few most extraordinary examples of bravery and success, had he, when possessed of victory, granted peace to the request of our fathers; but by setting no bounds to his ambition, by laying no restraint on his passions; in proportion to the height of glory to which he had attained, was his fall dishonourable. Certainly it is his right who grants peace, not his who sues for it, to prescribe the terms; yet, perhaps, we might not be deemed altogether inadequate to the estimation of what degree of punishment should be inflicted on us. We are ready to give up to you the possession of all those places, on account of which the war was begun: Sicily, Sardinia, Spain, with all the islands that lie in any part of the sea between Africa and Italy. Let us, Carthaginians, confined within the shores of Africa, behold you (since such is the will of the gods) extending your sovereignty, both by land and sea, over foreign realms. I am far from denying that you have some reason to distrust the faith of the Carthaginians, on account of the insincerity which they showed in their solicitations, and in not waiting the issue of the negotiation. Scipio, the security of a peace being observed depends much on the character of those who sue for it. Your senate, I hear, refused to grant it, partly from the consideration that the persons employed in the embassy Edition: current; Page: [194] were not sufficiently respectable. Hannibal sues for peace, who would not sue for it unless he thought it expedient; and who, on account of the same expediency which induces him to sue for it, will also maintain it. And as because the war was begun by me, I took effectual care, until the gods themselves declared against me, that my countrymen should have no reason to complain of it, so will I exert my utmost endeavours to make them satisfied with a peace procured by my means.”

XXXI. The Roman general answered to this effect: “Hannibal, it was not unknown to me that their expectation of your arrival was what urged the Carthaginians to violate the truce subsisting, and to break off the treaty of peace. Nor do you dissemble it; as you deduct, from the former conditions, every particular, except those which are, for some time past, in our own power. But as you are solicitous that your countrymen should understand how great a burden they are relieved from by your means, so it is my business to endeavour that they shall not now retract the concessions which they then agreed to make, and enjoy what they then ceded, as a reward of their perfidy. Unworthy of being allowed the same terms, you require additional advantages in consequence of your treachery. Neither were our fathers the aggressors in the war of Sicily, nor we in that of Spain. In the former case, the danger of their allies the Mamertines; in the latter, the destruction of Saguntum, armed us in the cause of justice and in duty. That you were the aggressors, you yourself acknowledge; and the gods bear witness to it, who directed the issue of the former war according to equity, and who are now directing, and will bring the present to the same issue. As to myself, I am sensible of the instability of human affairs; I am mindful of the power of fortune; and I know that all our undertakings are subject to a thousand casualties. But as on the one hand, if you were retiring Edition: current; Page: [195] from Italy of your own accord, and, after embarking your troops, were come to solicit peace, if in that case I refused to listen to you, I should acknowledge that I behaved with pride and arrogance: so, on the other hand, now that I have dragged you into Africa, in spite of every effort which you used to prevent it, I am not bound to show you any particular respect. If, therefore, in addition to the terms on which it was then intended to conclude a peace (and with which you are acquainted,) a full compensation be proposed for having seized our ships and stores, during the subsistence of a truce, and for the insult offered to my ambassadors, I shall then have matter to lay before my council. But if this also seem severe, prepare for war, since you must be insincere in proposing peace.” Thus, without coming to any accommodation, they retired to their respective armies, and informed them that words had been tried to no purpose, that the business must be decided by arms, and they must abide the fortune which the gods should allot them.

XXXII. Arrived at their camps, both gave orders to their soldiers to “get ready their arms, and call forth their courage, for a decisive contest; in which, if success attended them, they would secure a superiority, not for a day, but for ever. That it would be seen before to-morrow night, whether Rome or Carthage was to give laws to all nations: for not Africa, nor Italy, but the world, was to be the prize of victory; while the calamities to those who should be overcome, were proportionate to the prize;” for as, on the one hand, the Romans had no chance of escaping, in a foreign, and to them unknown, country; so, on the other, Carthage, having exhausted her last resources, seemed to be threatened with immediate ruin. Next day, advanced two by far the most illustrious generals, and two most puissant armies, of the two most powerful states, to complete the splendid fabric of glory which they had erected, and which Edition: current; Page: [196] each were desirous of securing to himself. The minds of all were anxiously suspended between hope and fear; and whilst they viewed, at one time, their own, at another, the enemy’s army, estimating their powers either by the eye or judgment, they met with objects both of encouragement and of dread. Such as did not occur to their own thoughts, were suggested by the generals in their admonitions and exhortations. The Carthaginian recounted the exploits of sixteen years in the heart of Italy; so many Roman generals, so many armies utterly destroyed; and when he came to any soldier, who had been distinguished for his behaviour in a former battle, he reminded him of the honours which he had received. Scipio called to his men’s recollection Spain, the late engagements in Africa, and the acknowledgment of the enemy, that they had been compelled by their fears to sue for peace; which, yet, the natural perfidy of their disposition would not allow them to establish. He related also his conference with Hannibal; which, as it had passed in secret, he might have misrepresented at his pleasure. He mentioned, as an encouraging omen, that, as they were coming out to battle, the gods had shown them the same portents, under the auspices of which their fathers had fought at the islands Ægates. “The end of the war, and of all their toils,” he said, “was now at hand; they had, within their reach, the plunder of Carthage: and might speedily return home to their country, to their parents, their children, their wives and their household gods.” These words he uttered in an erect attitude, and with a countenance so animated with joy, that he seemed as if he had already obtained the victory.

XXXIII. He then drew up the spearmen in the van, behind them the first-rank men, and closed the rear with the veterans. He did not, as usual, form the cohorts in close order, each before their own colours, but placed the companies at some distance from each other, that there might be Edition: current; Page: [197] room to admit the elephants of the enemy, without disturbing the ranks. Lælius, who formerly served under him as lieutenant-general, but that year as quæstor, by particular appointment, in pursuance of a decree of the senate, he posted with the Italian cavalry on the left wing; Masinissa and the Numidians on the right. The openings between the companies of the cohorts he filled up with light-armed troops, and gave them directions, on the attack of the elephants, either to retire to the rear of the files, or, opening to right and left, to form along with the cohorts, so as to leave a passage for those beasts, through which they might advance, exposed on both sides to their weapons. Hannibal, in order to strike terror, placed his elephants in the front: of these there were eighty (a number greater than he had ever before brought into the field;) next to them, the auxiliary Ligurians and Gauls, with the Balearians and Moors intermixed. In the second line, he placed the Carthaginians, Africans, and the legion of Macedonians; and then, (leaving a moderate interval,) he formed the line of reserve, consisting of Italian soldiers, chiefly Bruttians, a greater number of whom followed him on his departure from Italy, by compulsion and through necessity, rather than from inclination. He also covered the flanks with cavalry, the Carthaginians being posted on the right, the Numidians on the left. Various were the methods of encouragement made use of among such a number of men, differing from each other in language, in manners, in laws, in arms, in garb, in temper, and in their motives for engaging in the service. To the auxiliaries was held out present gain; and that to be greatly increased by future plunder. The Gauls were inflamed by rousing their peculiar and natural hatred to the Romans. To the Ligurians, who had been brought down from craggy mountains, the fertile plains of Italy were pointed out as the reward of success. The Moors and Numidians he terrified with the prospect of Edition: current; Page: [198] cruel tyranny under Masinissa. Different objects of hope and fear were proposed to each; but to the Carthaginians, nothing but extremes, either on the side of hope or of fear, was presented to view; the walls of their native city, their household gods, the sepulchres of their ancestors, their children, parents, and wives distracted with terror; in a word, utter ruin and abject slavery, or the empire of the world. While the general was thus employed among the Carthaginians, and the commanders of the several nations among their respective countrymen, (many of them speaking by interpreters, being intermixed with foreigners,) the trumpets and cornets sounded on the side of the Romans; and such a shout was raised, that the elephants, particularly in the left wing, turned about against their own men, the Moors and Numidians. Masinissa, charging them while in disorder, easily drove them in, and stripped their line on that flank of the cover of the cavalry. However, a few of these beasts, unaffrighted, being driven forward on the Romans, made great slaughter among the light troops, but not without receiving many wounds; for, springing back to the companies, and, to avoid being trodden under foot, opening a passage for the elephants, they discharged their spears at them from both sides, being entirely exposed as they passed through; nor did the javelins from the first line of troops cease, until, being driven away from the Roman line by the weapons showered on them, they put to flight even the Carthaginian cavalry, in their own right wing. Lælius, seeing the enemy in this confusion, charged their disordered troops, and put them to flight.

XXXIV. The Carthaginian line was exposed on both flanks, not having cavalry to cover them, when the infantry began to engage; but no longer on an equality with the Roman, either in hope or in strength. There was another circumstance which, though trifling in appearance, is yet of Edition: current; Page: [199] great consequence in action. The shout on the side of the Romans was composed of the same sounds uttered by every one; consequently it was the stronger, and more terrible: on the other side, the sounds were dissonant, uttered in the discordant languages of many different nations. Besides, the Roman manner of fighting was steady, being accustomed to press against the enemy with their own weight, and that of their arms. That of the Carthaginian was more loose, with greater agility than strength. Immediately, therefore, at the first onset, the Romans made the line of the enemy give way; and then, thrusting against them with their elbows and the bosses of their shields, and stepping forward into the place from which they had pushed them, they rapidly gained ground. The rear ranks also, on perceiving the enemy’s line shrink, pushed forward those who were before them, which greatly encreased their force in repelling the enemy. On the other side, the Africans and Carthaginians, so far from supporting the auxiliaries, who were giving way, drew back; fearing lest, if that first line made an obstinate resistance, the enemy, in cutting through those, might close with them. The auxiliaries, therefore, quickly turned their backs, and facing about to their own party, some of them retreated into the second line; others, who were not received there, made use of their arms against them, enraged at not having been supported before, and at being now excluded. So that there were, in a manner, two battles carried on together; the Carthaginians being obliged to engage in fight, and at the same time, both with their mercenaries and with the Romans. They did not, however, admit those craven soldiers into their line, which was still firm and fresh; but, closing the ranks, drove them off to the wings, and to the open plains round the field of battle. The place where the auxiliaries had lately stood was filled up with such a number of slain, and such a quantity of arms, that it was rather Edition: current; Page: [200] more difficult to make way through them, than it had been through the body of troops; the spearmen, however, who were in the van, pursuing the enemy, as each could find a passage through the heaps of carcases and weapons and streams of blood, disordered both their battalions and ranks. The battalions of the first-rank men also, seeing the line before them in confusion, began to waver; which, as soon as Scipio observed, he instantly ordered a retreat to be sounded for the spearmen, and carrying off the wounded to the rear, brought up the first-rank men and veterans to the wings, in order that the line of the spearmen, in the centre, might be the more secure and firm. Thus was a new battle begun, for they had now come up to their real antagonists, who were upon an equality with them, both in respect to the kind of arms which they used, of their experience in war, the fame of their exploits, and the greatness both of their hopes and dangers. But the Romans had the advantage in number, and also in spirit, as having already routed the cavalry and the elephants, and, after having defeated the first line, engaging now with the second.

XXXV. Lælius and Masinissa, who had pursued the flying cavalry to some distance, returning at this critical juncture, fell upon the rear of the enemy; and by this charge effectually routed them. Many were surrounded in the field and slain; many, being dispersed in flight through the open country adjoining, where the cavalry were entirely masters, perished in various places. Of the Carthaginians and their allies there were slain, on that day, above twenty thousand; about the same number were taken, with an hundred and thirty-three military standards, and eleven elephants. Of the conquerors there fell two thousand. Hannibal, escaping during the confusion with a few horsemen, fled to Hadrumetum, having left no effort untried to rally his troops before he left the field. Scipio himself, and all who were skilled Edition: current; Page: [201] in the military art, allowed him the merit of having made the disposition of his forces with singular judgment; placing the elephants in the front, in order that their ungoverned onset and insupportable violence might put it out of the power of the Romans to follow their ensigns, and preserve their ranks, in which they placed their chief confidence; then the auxiliaries, before the line of Carthaginians, in order that these men, made up of the refuse of all nations, who were retained in their duty, not by any sense of honour, but by gain, should have no prospect of safety in flight, and at the same time should stand the first brunt and fury of the foe, that, if they did no other service, they might at least be as shields to blunt their swords: next, the Carthaginian and African soldiers, in whom lay all his hopes, in order that they, being equal in all respects with the Romans, might have the advantage of engaging fresh, against men fatigued and wounded; separating the Italians at some distance from the rest, and placing them in the rear, as he knew not, with certainty, whether they were friends or foes. Hannibal, after exerting this last effort of bravery, having fled to Hadrumetum, on receiving a summons, returned to Carthage, in the thirty-sixth year after he had left it, and when a boy. He acknowledged, in the senate-house, that he was vanquished, not only in the recent battle, but in the whole of the war; and that there was no other hope of avoiding ruin, but in obtaining peace.

XXXVI. Immediately after the battle, Scipio having taken and plundered the enemy’s camp, returned with immense booty to the sea-coast, to his fleet, having received an account that Publius Lentulus was arrived at Utica with fifty ships of war, a hundred transports, and stores of all kinds. With a view, therefore, of increasing the consternation at Carthage, by showing them objects of terror on every side, after despatching Lælius to Rome with news of the Edition: current; Page: [202] victory, he ordered Cneius Octavius to conduct the legions to that city by land; and, joining the fleet of Lentulus, lately arrived, with his own which he had before, he himself, setting sail from Utica, steered for the harbour of Carthage. When he had arrived within a small distance, he was met by a Carthaginian ship, dressed with fillets and branches of olive, on board of which were ten ambassadors, the chief men of the state, sent, by the advice of Hannibal, to sue for peace. These coming under the stern of the general’s ship, holding out the badges of supplicants, besought and implored the favour and compassion of Scipio: but they received no other answer, than that they should come to Tunes, to which place he intended to remove his camp. Then, after taking a view of the situation of Carthage, not so much for the sake of any present use which he intended to make of his knowledge of it, as of dispiriting the enemy, he returned to Utica, and at the same time recalled Octavius thither. As they advanced towards Tunes, an account was brought that Vermina, son of Syphax, with a greater number of horse than of foot, was coming to the aid of the Carthaginians. A detachment of the army, with all the cavalry, attacking this body of Numidians on their march, on the first day of the Saturnalia, routed them without much difficulty; and every possibility of flight being cut off by the surrounding cavalry, fifteen thousand men were slain, one thousand two hundred taken, together with fifteen hundred horses, and seventy-two military standards. The prince himself, with very few attendants, made his escape during the tumult. The camp was then pitched near Tunes, in the same place as before, whither thirty ambassadors came from Carthage to Scipio, and the behaviour of these was much more calculated to excite compassion than that of the former, as their distress was still encreasing. But, from the recollection of their late perfidy, they were heard with the less pity. In the council, Edition: current; Page: [203] though all were stimulated by just resentment to pursue Carthage to destruction, yet, when they considered how great an undertaking it was, and what a length of time the siege of a city, so strong and so well fortified, would require, (Scipio himself also being uneasy, under the apprehension of a successor being appointed in his place, who might claim the glory of having terminated the war, though it had been actually brought to an issue by the labours and dangers of another,) they all became inclined to peace.

XXXVII. The next day, the ambassadors being again called, and, with severe rebukes for their perfidy, admonished, that, instructed by so many calamities, they should at length be convinced of the regard due to the gods, and to an oath, these terms of peace were prescribed to them;—“That they should live free under their own laws, should enjoy the possession of whatever cities, whatever territories, and whatever boundaries, they possessed before the war; and that the Roman general would, on that day, put an end to the devastation of their country. That they should deliver up to the Romans all deserters, fugitives, and prisoners; and should surrender their ships of war, except ten, together with all their trained elephants, and should not train any more. That they should wage no war, either in or out of, Africa, without the permission of the Roman people; should make restitution to Masinissa, and conclude a treaty with him; should supply corn and pay to the auxiliaries, until their ambassadors should return from Rome. That they should pay, within fifty years, ten thousand talents of silver,* by equal payments, according to a mode laid down in writing, and should give a hundred hostages to be approved of by Scipio, none younger than fourteen years, or older than thirty. That he would grant them a truce on this condition: that the transports which had Edition: current; Page: [204] been captured during the former truce, together with their cargoes, be restored; if this were not complied with, they were not to expect either truce or peace.” When the ambassadors, who were sent home with these conditions, reported them in an assembly of the people, Gisgo having stood forth to dissuade them from accepting the terms, and being listened to by the multitude, who were as impatient of quiet, as unfit for war, Hannibal, filled with indignation on finding objections made, and listened to, at such a juncture, laid hold of Gisgo with his hand, and pulled him down from the place on which he stood. When this sight, unusual in a free state, raised a murmur among the citizens, he, being accustomed to military manners, and disconcerted by their reception of him, said to them: “At nine years of age I left this city, at the end of the thirty-sixth I have returned. The rules of war, I think, I perfectly understand, having, from my childhood, been continually supplied with opportunities of learning them, at some times by the state of my own affairs, at others by that of the public. The privileges, laws, and manners of the city and of the Forum, you ought to teach me.” Having thus apologized for his imprudence, he spoke at large concerning the peace, showing how necessary it was, and that the terms were not unreasonable. The greatest difficulty of all was that of the fleet, which had been captured during the truce; nothing was to be found but the ships themselves, nor was it easy to collect the effects, those who were charged with having them in their possession, making opposition to all that was proposed. It was at length resolved, that the ships should be restored, that the men at all events should be collected, and that the other matters which could not be produced, should be left to the valuation of Scipio, according to which the Carthaginians should make compensation in money. Some say, that Hannibal, having gone from the field to the sea-coast, sailed immediately in a ship which had been prepared, Edition: current; Page: [205] and went to King Antiochus; and that when Scipio made it a principal demand, that Hannibal should be given up to him, he was told that Hannibal had quitted Africa.

XXXVIII. On the return of the ambassadors to Scipio, the quæstors were ordered to give in a return, extracted from the public accounts, of the public property which had been on board the ships; and the owners to make a return of the private property. For the amount of the value, twenty-five thousand pounds weight of silver were required to be immediately paid, and a truce for three months was granted to the Carthaginians. A clause was added, that, during the truce, they should not send ambassadors to any other place than to Rome; and that if any such should come to Carthage, they should not dismiss them until the Roman general was made acquainted with their business. With the Carthaginian ambassadors were sent to Rome, Lucius Veturius Philo, Marcius Ralla, and Lucius Scipio, the general’s brother. From that time, the great supplies from Sicily and Sardinia caused such cheapness of provisions, that the merchant often furnished corn to the mariners for the freight. At Rome there had been some uneasiness on the first account of the Carthaginians having recommenced hostilities, and Tiberius Claudius had been ordered to conduct the fleet to Sicily with all expedition, and to pass over from thence to Carthage; and the other consul, Marcus Servilius, to remain in the city, until the state of affairs in Africa should be known. Tiberius Claudius proceeded slowly in every step towards the equipment and sailing of the fleet, being offended at the senate having voted, that Scipio, in preference to the consul, should have the honour of prescribing the terms of peace. Accounts of prodigies also, arriving a little before the news of the revival of hostilities, had raised people’s apprehensions. At Cumæ, the orb of the sun seemed to be diminished, and a shower of stones fell; and in the district of Veliturnum, the Edition: current; Page: [206] earth sunk in great chasms, in which trees were swallowed. At Aricia, the Forum, and the shops round it; at Frusino, several parts of the wall and a gate, were struck by lightning. On the Palatine hill, too, a shower of stones fell. This prodigy, according to the method handed down by tradition, was expiated by a nine day’s solemnity; the others by the greater victims. Among the rest, an unusual overflowing of the rivers was also considered as a prodigy: for there was such an inundation of the Tiber, that, the Circus being filled with water, preparations for the games of Apollo were made on the outside of the Colline gate, near the temple of Venus Erycina. But on the very day of the games, the weather suddenly clearing up, the procession, which had begun to advance toward the Colline gate, was recalled, and conducted to the Circus, on its being known that the water had retired from thence. Its own proper place being thus restored to this solemn exhibition, gave much joy to the people, and added considerably to the splendour of the games.

XXXIX. The consul Claudius, having at last set out from the city, was overtaken by a violent storm between the ports of Cosa and Laureta, and brought into imminent danger: however, having got as far as Populonii, where he continued until a change of weather, he proceeded to the island Ilva; from Ilva to Corsica, and from thence to Sardinia. There, as he was sailing by the Mad Mountains, a still more furious tempest surprised him, and dispersed his fleet. Many ships were damaged, and lost their rigging, and several were wrecked. In this harassed and shattered condition, the fleet arrived at Carales, where the winter came upon them while they were employed in docking and repairing the ships. Meanwhile the year coming to a conclusion, and it not being proposed to continue him in command, Tiberius Claudius, after he had ceased to hold any public office, brought home the fleet. Marcus Servilius, having nominated Caius Servilius Geminus dictator, Edition: current; Page: [207] lest he might be recalled on account of the elections, set out for his province. The dictator named Publius Ælius Pætus master of the horse. The elections, though many days were appointed for the purpose, were still prevented by storms; so that the magistrates of the former year going out of office, on the day preceding the ides of March, and no successors being appointed, the state was without curule magistrates. Lucius Manlius Torquatus, a pontiff, died that year: in his place was substituted Caius Sulpicius Galba. The Roman games were thrice repeated, entire, by the curule ædiles, Lucius Licinius Lucullus and Quintus Fulvius. Some of the inferior officers belonging to the ædiles, being convicted, on the testimony of a discoverer, of having secretly conveyed money out of the treasury, were condemned, not without reflecting dishonour on the ædile Lucullus. Publius Ælius Tubero and Lucius Lætorius, plebeian ædiles, on some irregularity being discovered in their election, abdicated their office, after they had celebrated the games, and, on occasion thereof, a feast to Jupiter; having also erected in the Capitol three images, formed out of silver raised by fines. The dictator and master of the horse, in pursuance of a decree of the senate, celebrated the games of Ceres.

XL. When the Roman deputies, together with the Carthaginian ambassadors, were come to Rome from Africa, the senate assembled in the temple of Bellona. Lucius Veturius Philo acquainted them (to the great joy of the Fathers), that a battle had been fought with Hannibal, in which the Carthaginians were finally overpowered, and an end put at last to that disastrous war: he added, as a small accession to that great and happy event, that Vermina, son of Syphax, had also been vanquished. He was then ordered to go out to the general assembly, and to communicate the joyful news to the people. On this, after mutual congratulations, a public thanksgiving being ordered, all the temples in the city were Edition: current; Page: [208] thrown open, and a supplication for three days decreed. The ambassadors of the Carthaginians, and of King Philip, for they also had arrived, requesting an audience of the senate, the dictator answered, by order of the Fathers, that the new consuls would procure them an audience.Y.R.551. bc201. The elections were then held. The consuls elected were, Cneius Cornelius Lentulus, and Publius Ælius Pætus: the prætors, Marcus Junius Pennus, to whom the city jurisdiction fell; Marcus Valerius Falto acquired, by lot, Bruttium; Marcus Fabius Buteo, Sardinia; Publius Ælius Tubero, Sicily. With respect to the provinces of the consuls, it was determined that nothing should be done until the ambassadors of King Philip and the Carthaginians were heard: for it was plainly foreseen, that the conclusion of the one war would be quickly followed by the commencement of another. The consul Cneius Lentulus was inflamed with a strong desire of obtaining the province of Africa; having in view either an easy conquest, or, if it were now to be concluded, the glory of terminating so great a war in his consulate. He declared, therefore, that he would not suffer any business to be done until Africa were decreed to him; for his colleague declined putting in his claim for it, being a moderate, prudent man, who perceived, that a contest with Scipio for that honour, besides being unjust, would be also unequal. Quintus Minucius Thermus, and Manius Acilius Glabrio, tribunes of the people, said, that “Cneius Cornelius was endeavouring to carry a point which had been attempted in vain, the year before, by the consul Tiberius Claudius: that, by the direction of the senate, the question had been proposed to the people respecting the command in Africa, and that the thirty-five tribes unanimously decreed that command to Publius Scipio.” The affair, after being canvassed with much heat both in the senate and in the assembly of the people, was at last brought to this conclusion,—that it should Edition: current; Page: [209] be left to the determination of the former. The Fathers, therefore, on oath, for so it had been agreed, voted that the consuls should settle between themselves, or cast lots for their provinces, which of them should have Italy, and which a fleet of fifty ships. That he to whose lot it fell to command the fleet, should sail to Sicily; and if peace could not be concluded with the Carthaginians, should pass over from thence to Africa, where he the said consul should command at sea, and Scipio on land, with the same extent of authority as heretofore. If the terms of peace should be agitated, that then the tribunes should take the opinion of the people, whether they would order the consul or Publius Scipio to settle those terms, and if the victorious army was to be conducted home, whom they would order to do it. If they should order the peace to be granted by Publius Scipio, and the army also to be brought home by him, that then the consul should not cross over from Sicily to Africa. That the other consul, to whose lot Italy fell, should receive two legions from Marcus Sextius, prætor.

XLI. Publius Scipio’s command in the province of Africa was prolonged, with the armies which he then had. To Marcus Valerius Falto, prætor, were decreed the two legions in Bruttium, which Caius Livius had commanded the preceding year. Publius Ælius, prætor, was to receive two legions in Sicily from Cneius Tremellius. One legion, which had been under Publius Lentulus, proprætor, was decreed to Marcus Fabius, for Sardinia. The command in Etruria was continued to Marcus Servilius, consul of the former year, with his own two legions. With regard to Spain, the senate ordered, that whereas Lucius Cornelius Lentulus, and Lucius Manlius Acidinus, had now remained in that country for several years, the consuls should therefore make application to the tribunes, that, if they thought proper, they should ask the people, whom they would order to have charge in Edition: current; Page: [210] Spain; and that the person so ordered should collect such a number of Romans out of the two armies, as would make up one legion, and as many of the allies of the Latine confederacy as would form fifteen cohorts; with which he should conduct the business of the province; and that Lucius Cornelius and Lucius Manlius shall lead home the veteran soldiers to Italy. To the consul Cornelius was decreed a squadron of fifty ships out of the two fleets, one of which was under Cneius Octavius in Africa, the other under Publius Vellius, guarding the coast of Sicily; with liberty to take such of those vessels as he might please. It was also decreed, that Publius Scipio should keep the fifty ships of war on his station as before; and that if Cneius Octavius chose to continue in the command of these as heretofore, he should have it for that year as proprætor: that if Lælius should be set at the head of the fleet, then Octavius should return to Rome, and bring home such ships as the proconsul had not occasion for. Ten ships of war were also decreed to Marcus Fabius for Sardinia; and the consuls were ordered to inlist two legions for the city, so that the state should have in its service, for that year, fourteen legions, and one hundred and ten ships of war.

XLII. The next business attended to was that of the envoys of Philip and the Carthaginians. It was thought proper that the Macedonians should be first introduced. Their discourse comprehended a variety of subjects: they first endeavoured to clear themselves of those matters, of which the ambassadors sent from Rome to the King had complained, relative to the depredations committed on the allies. Then, on their part, they remonstrated on the conduct of the allies of the Romans, and particularly on that of Marcus Aurelius, who, they said, being one of the three ambassadors sent to them, had staid behind the rest, levied soldiers, committed hostilities against them, and fought several pitched battles Edition: current; Page: [211] with their commanders. They afterwards demanded, that the Macedonians, and their captain, Sopater, who had served for pay under Hannibal, and having been made prisoners were still detained, might be restored to them. In opposition to this, Marcus Furius, who had been sent from Macedonia to Aurelius for the purpose, asserted, that “Aurelius had been directed to take care, lest the allies, wearied out by insults and depredations, should go over to the King: that he had not gone beyond the boundaries of the confederated states, but had endeavoured to prevent devastations being committed with impunity within their territories: that Sopater was one of the King’s particular favourites, one of those distinguished with the purple, and that he had been lately sent with four thousand men and a sum of money into Africa, to the assistance of Hannibal and the Carthaginians.” The Macedonians being interrogated on these points, and not giving any clear answers, the senate, without farther discussion, told them, that “the King was seeking war, and, if he persisted, would quickly find it. That the treaty had been doubly violated by him: first, in offering injury to the allies of the Roman people, assaulting them in open hostilities; secondly, in assisting their enemies with troops and money. That Publius Scipio had acted and was acting properly, and regularly, in treating as foes, and throwing into confinement, those who were taken in arms against the Roman people; and that Marcus Aurelius did his duty to the state, and in a manner agreeable to the senate, in protecting the allies of the Roman people by arms, since he could not do it by the authority of the treaty.” The Macedonians being dismissed with this severe answer, the Carthaginian ambassadors were called; on sight of whose ages and dignities, every one was ready to observe, that they were now in earnest in their application for peace, for that these were by far the most respectable persons of their nation. Hasdrubal, (by his countrymen Edition: current; Page: [212] surnamed Hædus,) was distinguished above the rest, having always recommended peace, and opposed the Barcine faction. On that account, great attention was paid to him, when he transferred the blame of the war from the state on the ambition of a few. After discoursing on various heads, at one time refuting charges which had been made against them; at another, acknowledging some, lest, by denying what was manifestly true, he might render forgiveness more difficult; and then going so far as to admonish the Conscript Fathers to show mildness and moderation in prosperity, he added, that “if the Carthaginians had listened to him and Hanno, and made a proper use of occurrences as they happened, they would have been in a condition of prescribing terms, instead of begging a peace, as they now did: but men were seldom blessed with good fortune and a good understanding at the same time. That the Roman people were therefore invincible, because, when successful, they never lost sight of the maxims of wisdom and prudence; and, indeed, it would have been surprising, had they acted otherwise: while those who are unaccustomed to success, unable to restrain their transports, run into extravagance. To the Roman people the joy of victory was now habitual, and almost a matter of course; and they had enlarged their empire more by their lenity to the vanquished, than by their victories.” The discourse of the others was more calculated to excite compassion; they represented, “to what a low state, from an exalted height, the affairs of the Carthaginians had fallen. That they who had lately extended the power of their arms over almost the whole world, had now little left them except the walls of Carthage. Shut up within these, they could see nothing, either on land or sea, that they could call their own. Even of the city itself, and of their habitatations, they had no other tenure, than the Romans not choosing to wreak their vengeance on those also, when no Edition: current; Page: [213] other object for it now remained.” When it appeared, that the Fathers were moved by compassion, one of the senators, it is said, incensed at the perfidy of the Carthaginians, called out to them, and asked, “What gods they would now invoke as witnesses in the pending treaty, having broken faith with those in whose name the former one was concluded.” “The same,” said Hasdrubal, “who now show such resentment against the violators of treaties.”

XLIII. The minds of all inclining to peace, Cneius Lentulus, consul, whose province was the fleet, protested against the senate passing a decree. On which the tribunes, Manius Acilius and Quintus Minucius, put the question to the people, “Whether they would choose and order the senate to decree that peace should be made with the Carthaginians; whom they would order to grant peace, and whom to conduct the armies home from Africa?” All the tribes unanimously passed the question as it was put, and ordered Publius Scipio to grant the peace, and also to conduct the armies home. In consequence of this order of the people, the senate decreed, that Publius Scipio, in concert with the ten ambassadors, should conclude a peace with the people of Carthage, on such terms as he should judge proper. The Carthaginians then, after returning thanks to the senate, requested that they might be permitted to enter the city, and to converse with their countrymen, who, having been made prisoners, were still kept so: among whom some of them had relations and friends, men of distinction, and to others they had messages from their relations. After a meeting with their friends, on making a second request, that liberty might be allowed them to ransom such of them as they chose, they were ordered to give in a list of their names; and when they had given in about two hundred, a decree of the senate was passed, that “the Roman ambassadors should carry two hundred of the prisoners, such as the Carthaginians should select, into Edition: current; Page: [214] Africa, to Publius Cornelius Scipio, and give him directions, that, if peace were concluded, he should restore them, without ransom, to the Carthaginians.” The heralds being ordered to go to Africa to ratify the treaty, at their desire the senate passed a decree in these words: that “they should carry with them flint stones of their own, and vervain of their own: that the Roman commander should give them the order to strike the treaty, and that they should call on him for the herbs.” This was a kind of herb brought from the Capitol, and given to the heralds on such occasions. The deputies being dismissed from Rome in this manner, as soon as they came to Scipio in Africa, concluded a peace on the terms beforementioned. The Carthaginians delivered up the ships of war, elephants, deserters, fugitives, and four thousand prisoners, among whom was Quintus Terentius Culleo, a senator. The ships Scipio ordered to be carried out into the deep, and burned. Some say that they amounted to five hundred, of all sorts, which were worked with oars; and that the sudden sight of these in flames was as great a shock to the Carthaginians, as if Carthage itself had been set on fire. The deserters were treated with more severity than the fugitives: those who were of the Latine confederacy were beheaded, the Romans were crucified.

XLIV. The last peace with the Carthaginians had been made forty years before this, in the consulate of Quintus Lutatius and Aulus Manlius. The late war began twenty-three years after, in the consulate of Publius Cornelius and Tiberius Sempronius, and ended in the seventeenth year, when Cneius Cornelius and Publius Ælius Pætus were consuls. We are told that Scipio often said afterwards, that the ambition, first of Tiberius Claudius, and then of Cneius Cornelius, was what prevented that war from ending in the utter destruction of Carthage.

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The Carthaginians having been exhausted by the long continuance of the late struggles, found it difficult to raise the first contribution money, so that the senate-house was filled with grief and lamentations; on which occasion, it is said, that Hannibal was observed to laugh; and that being observed by Hasdrubal Hædus, for laughing in a moment of public sorrowing, and when he himself was the cause of their tears, he said,—“If the inward thoughts could be perceived, in the same manner as the look of the countenance is perceived by the eye, you would be immediately convinced that the laughter which you blame, proceeds not from a heart elated with joy, but from one driven almost to madness by misfortunes; and yet it is not, by any means, so unseasonable as those absurd and inconsistent tears of yours. Then ought you to have wept, when our arms were taken from us, our ships burned, and we ourselves forbidden to engage in foreign wars: that was the wound by which we fell. And do not imagine that the measures taken against you by the Romans, were dictated merely by animosity. No great state can remain long at rest. If it has no enemies abroad, it finds them at home; as overgrown bodies seem safe from external injuries, but suffer grievous inconveniences from their own strength. We feel, it seems, for the public misfortunes, only in proportion as our private affairs are affected by them; and none of them stings more deeply than the loss of money. Thus, when the spoils were stripped off from vanquished Carthage, and you saw her left naked among so many armed states of Africa, not one of you uttered a groan; now, because a contribution must be made to the tribute out of your private properties, you lament as if the existence of the state were terminated. Much I dread lest you quickly feel that the subject of your tears this day is the lightest of your misfortunes.” Such were Hannibal’s sentiments which he delivered to the Carthaginians. Scipio, having called an assembly, Edition: current; Page: [216] bestowed on Masinissa, in addition to his paternal kingdom, the city of Cirtha, and the other cities and lands belonging to the territories of Syphax, which had fallen into the hands of the Roman people. He ordered Cneius Octavius to conduct the fleet to Sicily, and deliver it to the consul Cneius Cornelius; and the ambassadors of the Carthaginians to go to Rome, in order that the terms stipulated for by him, might be ratified by the authority of the senate and the order of the people.

XLV. Peace being established by sea and land, he embarked his army, and carried it over to Lilybæum in Sicily, and from thence, sending a great part of his troops round by sea, he himself landed in Italy. As he proceeded through the country, he found it no less delighted at finding there was an end to the war, than at his success in it; not only the inhabitants of the cities pouring out to show their respect to him, but crowds of the country people also filling up the roads; and thus he arrived at Rome, where he entered the city in the most splendid triumph which had ever been beheld. He carried into the treasury a hundred and twenty-three thousand pounds weight of silver, and out of the spoil distributed to each of his soldiers four hundred asses*. The death of Syphax caused some diminution in the splendour of the show, but none in the glory of the general who triumphed. He died a short time before at Tibur, to which place he had been removed from Alba. His death, however, made some noise, for he was honoured with a public funeral. Polybius, a writer of no contemptible authority, asserts, that this King was led in triumph. Quintus Terentius Culleo followed Scipio in his triumph, with a cap on his head†; and through his whole life after, as became him, he respected him as the author of his liberty. I have not been able to discover whether Edition: current; Page: [217] it was the affection of the soldiers, or the attachment of the people, which honoured Scipio with the surname of Africanus; nor whether it was first brought into use by the flattery of his friends, as that of Felix given to Sylla, and of Magnus to Pompey, in the memory of our fathers. He was certainly the first general distinguished by the title of a nation which he had subdued. Others, afterwards, following his example, though far inferior in the greatness of their atchievements, assumed pompous inscriptions for their statues, and splendid surnames for their families.

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BOOK XXXI.

Renewal of the war with Philip, King of Macedon. Successes of Publius Sulpicius, consul, who had the conduct of that war. The Abydenians, besieged by Philip, put themselves to death, together with their wives and children. Lucius Furius, prætor, defeats the Insubrian Gauls who had revolted, and Hamilcar who stirred up the insurrection is slain, with thirty-five thousand men. Farther operations of Sulpicius, Attalus, and the Rhodians, against Philip.

Y.R.551. bc201.I. I FEEL a degree of pleasure in having come to the end of the Punic war, as if myself had borne a share of the toil and danger. For though it ill becomes a person who has ventured to promise an entire history of all the Roman affairs, to be fatigued by any particular parts of so extensible a work; yet when I reflect that sixty-three years, (for so many there are from the first Punic war to the end of the second,) have filled up as many volumes for me, as the four hundred and eighty-seven years, from the building of the city to the consulates of Appius Claudius, who first made war on the Carthaginians; I plainly Edition: current; Page: [219] perceive that, like those who are tempted by the shallows near the shore, to walk into the sea, the farther I advance, I am carried into the greater depth and abyss as it were; and that my work rather increases on my hands, than diminishes, as I expected it would, by the first parts being completed. The peace with Carthage was quickly followed by a war with Macedonia; a war, not to be compared to the former, indeed, either in danger, or in the abilities of the commander, or the valour of the soldiers; but rather more remarkable with regard to the renown of their former Kings, the ancient fame of that nation, and the vast extent of their empire, which formerly comprehended a large part of Europe, and the greater part of Asia. The contest with Philip, which had begun about ten years before, had been intermitted for the three last years; the Ætolians having been the occasion both of the commencement and of the cessation of hostilities. The Romans being now disengaged from all employment, and being incensed against Philip, on account both of his infringing the peace with regard to the Ætolians, and the other allies in those parts, and also on account of his having lately sent aid of men and money into Africa, to Hannibal and the Carthaginians, were excited to a renewal of the war by the entreaties of the Athenians, whose country he had ravaged, and shut up the inhabitants within the walls of the city.

II. About the same time, ambassadors arrived both from King Attalus, and from the Rhodians, with information that the Macedonian was tampering with the states of Asia. To these embassies an answer was given, that the senate would give attention to the affairs of Asia. The determination with regard to the making war on him, was left open to the consuls, who were then in their provinces. In the mean time, three ambassadors were sent to Ptolemy, King of Egypt, namely, Caius Claudius Nero, Marcus Æmilius Lepidus, and Publius Sempronius Tuditanus, to announce their conquest of Edition: current; Page: [220] Hannibal and the Carthaginians, to give thanks to the King for his faithful adherence to his engagements in the time of their distress, when even the nearest allies of the Romans abandoned them, and to request, that, if they should be compelled by ill-treatment to break with Philip, he would preserve the same disposition towards the Roman people. In Gaul, about this time, the consul Publius Ælius, having heard, that, before his arrival, the Boians had made inroads on the territories of the allies, levied two occasional legions on account of this disturbance; and adding to them four cohorts from his own army, ordered Caius Oppius, the præfect, to march with this tumultuary band through Umbria (which is called the Sappinian district), and to invade the territories of the Boians; leading his own troops thither openly, over the mountains which lay in the way. Oppius, on entering the same, for some time committed depredations with good success and safety. But afterwards, having pitched on a place near a fort called Mutilum, convenient enough for cutting down the corn which was now ripe, and setting out, without having acquired a knowledge of the country, and without establishing armed posts, of sufficient strength to protect those who were unarmed and intent on their work, he was suddenly surrounded, together with his foragers, and attacked by the Gauls. On this, even those who were furnished with weapons, struck with dismay, betook themselves to flight. Seven thousand men, dispersed through the cornfields, were put to the sword, among whom was the commander himself, Caius Oppius. The rest were driven in confusion into the camp, from whence, in consequence of a resolution there formed, they set out on the following night, without any particular commander; and, leaving behind a great part of their baggage, made their way through woods almost impassable, to the consul, who returned to Rome without having performed any thing in his province worth notice, Edition: current; Page: [221] except that he ravaged the lands of the Boians, and made a treaty with the Ingaunian Ligurians.

III. The first time he assembled the senate, it was unanimously ordered that he should propose no other business before that which related to Philip, and the complaints of the allies; it was of course immediately taken into consideration, and in full meeting decreed, that Publius Ælius, consul, should send such person as he might think proper, vested with command, to receive the fleet which Cneius Octavius was bringing home from Sicily, and pass over to Macedonia. Accordingly, Marcus Valerius Lævinus, proprætor, was sent; and, receiving thirty-eight ships from Cneius Octavius near Vibo, he sailed to Macedonia, where, being met by Marcus Aurelius, the ambassador, and informed what numerous forces and what large fleets the King had prepared, and how busily he was employed in prevailing on divers states to join him, applying to some in person, to others by agents, not only through all the cities of the continent, but even in the islands, Lævinus was convinced from this, that the war required vigorous exertions on the side of the Romans; for, should they be dilatory, Philip might be encouraged to attempt an enterprise like to that which had been formerly undertaken by Pyrrhus, who possessed not such large dominions. He therefore desired Aurelius to convey this intelligence, by letter, to the consuls and to the senate.

IV. Towards the end of this year the senate, taking into consideration the lands to be given to the veteran soldiers, who, under the conduct and auspices of Publius Scipio, had finished the war in Africa, decreed, that Marcus Tunius, prætor of the city, should, if he thought proper, appoint ten commissioners to survey, and distribute among them, that part of the Samnite and Apulian lands which was the property of the Roman people. For this purpose were appointed, Publius Servilius, Quintus Cæcilius Metellus, Caius and Marcus Edition: current; Page: [222] Servilius, both surnamed Geminus, Lucius and Aulus Hostilius Cato, Publius Villius Tappulus, Marcus Fulvius Flaccus, Publius Ælius Pætus, and Quintus Flaminius. At the same time, Publius Ælius presiding at the election of consuls, Publius Sulpicius Galba, and Caius Aurelius Cotta, were elected. Then were chosen prætors, Quintus Minucius Rufus, Lucius Furius Purpureo, Quintus Fulvius Gillo, Cneius Sergius Plancus. The Roman stage-games were exhibited, in a sumptuous and elegant manner, by the curule ædiles, Lucius Valerius Flaccus, and Lucius Quintius Flamininus, and repeated for two days; and a vast quantity of corn, which Scipio had sent from Africa, was distributed by them to the people, with strict impartiality, and general satisfaction, at the rate of four asses a peck. The plebeian games were thrice repeated entire by the plebeian ædiles, Lucius Apustius Fullo, and Quintus Minucius Rufus; the latter of whom was, from the ædileship, elected prætor. There was also a feast of Jove on occasion of the games.

Y.R. 552. bc 200.V. In the year five hundred and fifty-two from the building of the city, Publius Sulpicius Galba, and Caius Aurelius, being consuls, within a few months after the conclusion of the peace with the Carthaginians, war began against King Philip. This was the first business introduced by the consul, Publius Sulpicius, on the ides of March, the day on which, in those times, the consuls entered into office; and the senate decreed, that the consuls should perform sacrifices with the greater victims, to such gods as they should judge proper, with prayers to this purpose,—that “the business which the senate and people of Rome had then under deliberation, concerning the state, and the entering on a new war, might be attended with success and prosperity to the Roman people, the allies, and the Latine confederacy;” and that, after the sacrifices and prayers, they should consult the senate on the state of public affairs, and the provinces. Edition: current; Page: [223] At this time, very opportunely for promoting a war, the letters were brought from Marcus Aurelius the ambassador, and Marcus Valerius Lævinus, proprætor. An embassy, likewise, arrived from the Athenians, to acquaint them, that the King was approaching their frontiers, and that in a short time, not only their lands, but their city also, must fall into his hands, unless they received aid from the Romans. When the consuls had made their report, that the sacrifices had been duly performed, and that the gods had accepted their prayers; that the aruspices had declared that the entrails showed good omens, and that enlargement of territory, victory and triumph were portended; the letters of Valerius and Aurelius were read, and audience given to the ambassadors of the Athenians. After which, a decree of the senate was passed, that thanks should be given to their allies, because, though long solicited, they had not been prevailed upon, even by dread of a siege, to depart from their engagements. With regard to sending assistance to them, they resolved, that an answer should be given as soon as the consuls should have cast lots for the provinces; and when the consul, to whose lot Macedonia fell, should have proposed to the people, to declare war against Philip, King of the Macedonians.

VI. The province of Macedonia fell by lot to Publius Sulpicius: and he proposed to the people to declare, “that they chose and ordered, that on account of the injuries and hostilities committed against the allies of the Roman people, war should be proclaimed against King Philip, and the Macedonians under his government.” The province of Italy fell to the lot of the other consul, Aurelius. The prætors then cast lots: to Cneius Sergius Plancus fell the city jurisdiction; to Quintus Fulvius Gillo, Sicily: to Quintus Minucius Rufus, Bruttium; and to Lucius Furius Purpureo, Gaul. At the first meeting of the people, the proposal concerning the Macedonian war was rejected by almost all the tribes. This was occasioned Edition: current; Page: [224] partly by the people’s own inclinations, who, wearied by the length and severity of the late war, longed to be freed from toils and dangers, and partly by Quintus Bæbius, tribune of the people, who, pursuing the old practice of criminating the patricians, charged them with multiplying wars one after another, so that the people could never enjoy peace. This proceeding gave great offence to the patricians, and the tribune was severely reprehended in the senate, where all earnestly recommended it to the consul, to call a new assembly for passing the proposal; to rebuke the backwardness of the people, and to prove to them how highly detrimental and dishonourable it would be to decline engaging in that war.

VII. The consul having assembled the people in the field of Mars, before he called upon the centuries to give their votes, required their attention, and addressed them thus: “Citizens, you seem to me not to understand that the question before you is not, whether you choose to have peace or war; for Philip, having already commenced hostilities with a formidable force, both on land and sea, allows you not that option. The question is, whether you choose to transport your legions to Macedonia, or to suffer the enemy to come into Italy? How important the difference is between these two cases, if you knew it not before, you have sufficiently learned in the late Punic war. For who entertains a doubt, but if, when the Saguntines were besieged and implored our protection, we had assisted them with vigour, as our fathers did the Mamertines, we should have averted the whole weight of the war upon Spain, which, by our dilatory proceedings, we suffered to our extreme loss to fall upon Italy? Nor does it admit a doubt, that what confined this same Philip in Macedonia, (after he had entered into an engagement with Hannibal, by ambassadors and letters, to cross over into Italy,) was our sending Lævinus with a fleet to carry the war home Edition: current; Page: [225] to him. And what we did at that time, when we had Hannibal to contend with in Italy, do we hesitate to do now, after Hannibal has been expelled Italy, and the Carthaginians subdued. Suppose for an instant, that we allow the King to experience the same inactivity on our part, while he is taking Athens, as Hannibal found while he was taking Saguntum: it will not be in the fifth month, as the Carthaginian came from Saguntum, but on the fifth day after the Macedonian sets sail from Corinth, that he will arrive in Italy. Perhaps you may not consider Philip as equal to Hannibal; or the Macedonians to the Carthaginians: certainly, however, you will allow him equal to Pyrrhus. Equal, do I say? what a vast superiority has the one man over the other; the one nation over the other? Epirus ever was, and is at this day, deemed but an inconsiderable accession to the kingdom of Macedonia. Philip has the entire Peloponnesus under his dominion, even Argos itself, not more celebrated for its ancient glory, than for the death of Pyrrhus. Now compare our situation. How much more flourishing was Italy when Pyrrhus attacked it? how much greater its strength, possessing so many commanders, so many armies, which the Punic war afterwards consumed? yet was he able to give it a violent shock, and advanced victorious almost to the gates of Rome: and not the Tarentines only, and the inhabitants of that tract of Italy which they call the greater Greece, whom you may suppose to have been led by the similarity of language and name, but the Lucanian, the Bruttian, and the Samnite, revolted from us. Do you believe that these would continue quiet and faithful, if Philip should come over to Italy, because they continued faithful afterwards, and during the Punic war? Be assured those states will never fail to revolt from us, except when there is no one to whom they can go over. If you had disapproved of a Roman army passing into Africa, you would this day have had Hannibal and the Carthaginians to contend with in Edition: current; Page: [226] Italy. Let Macedonia rather than Italy, be the seat of war. Let the cities and lands of the enemy be wasted with fire and sword. We have already found by experience, that our arms are more powerful and more successful abroad than at home. Go, and give your voices, with the blessing of the gods; and what the senate have voted, do you ratify by your order. This resolution is recommended to you, not only by your consul, but even by the immortal gods themselves; who, when I offered sacrifice, and prayed that the issue of this war might be happy and prosperous to me and to the senate, to you and the allies and Latine confederates, granted every omen of success and happiness.”

VIII. After this speech of Sulpicius, being sent to give their votes, they declared for the war as he had proposed. On which, in pursuance of a decree of the senate, a supplication for three days was proclaimed by the consuls; and prayers were offered to the gods at all the shrines, that the war which the people had ordered against Philip might be attended with success and prosperity. The consul Sulpicius, enquiring of the heralds, whether they would direct the declaration of the war against King Philip to be made to himself in person; or whether it would be sufficient to publish it in the nearest garrison, within the frontiers of his kingdom, they answered, that either would do. The consul received authority from the senate to send any person whom he thought proper, not being a senator, as ambassador, to denounce war against the King. They then proceeded to arrange the armies for the consuls and prætors. The consuls were ordered to levy two legions, and to disband the veteran troops. Sulpicius, to whom the management of this new and highly important war had been decreed, was allowed permission to carry with him as many volunteers as he could procure out of the army which Publius Scipio had brought home from Africa; but he was not empowered to compel Edition: current; Page: [227] any veteran soldier to attend him. They ordered that the consul should give to the prætors, Lucius Furius Purpureo, and Quintus Minucius Rufus, five thousand of the allies of the Latine confederacy; with which forces they should hold, one, the province of Gaul, the other, Bruttium. Quintus Fulvius Gillo was ordered, in like manner, to select out of the army which Publius Ælius, late consul, had commanded, such as had been the shortest time in the service, until he also made up five thousand of the allies and Latine confederates, for guarding his province of Sicily. To Marcus Valerius Falto, who, during the former year, had held the province of Campania, as prætor, the command was continued for a year; in order that he might go over, in quality of proprætor, to Sardinia, and choose out of the army there five thousand of the allies of the Latine confederacy, who also had been the shortest time in the service. The consuls were at the same time ordered to levy two legions for the city, which might be sent wherever occasion should require; as there were many states in Italy infected with an attachment to the Carthaginians, which they had formed during the war, and, in consequence, swelling with resentment. The state was to employ during that year six Roman legions.

IX. In the midst of the preparations for war, ambassadors came from King Ptolemy, with the following message:—that “the Athenians had petitioned the King for aid against Philip; but that although they were their common allies, yet the King would not, without the direction of the Roman people, send either fleet or army into Greece, for the purpose of defending or attacking any person. That he would remain quiet in his kingdom, if the Romans were at leisure to protect their allies; or, if more agreeable to them to be at rest, would himself send such aid as should effectually secure Athens against Philip.” Thanks were returned to the King by the senate, and this answer: that “it was the intention Edition: current; Page: [228] of the Roman people to protect their allies; that if they should have occasion for any assistance towards carrying on the war, they would acquaint the King; and that they were fully sensible, that, in the power of his kingdom, their state had a sure and faithful resource.” Presents were then, by order of the senate, sent to the ambassadors, of five thousand asses* to each. While the consuls were employed in levying troops, and making other necessary preparations, the people, prone to religious observances, especially at the beginning of new wars, after supplications had been already performed, and prayers offered up at all the shrines, lest any thing should be omitted that had ever been practised, ordered, that the consul who was to have the province of Macedonia, should vow games, and a present to Jove. Licinius, the chief pontiff, occasioned some delay in the performance of it, alleging, that “he could not properly frame the vow, unless the money to discharge it were specified. For as the sum to be named could not be applied to the uses of the war, it should be immediately set apart, and not to be intermixed with other money; and that, unless this were done, the vow could not be fulfilled.” Although the objection, and the person who proposed it, were both of weight, yet the consul was ordered to consult the college of pontiffs, whether a vow could not be undertaken without specifying the amount to discharge it? The pontiffs determined, that it could; and that it would be even more in order, to do it in that way. The consul, therefore, repeating after the chief pontiff, made the vow in the same words in which those made for five years of safety used to be expressed; only that he engaged to perform the games, and make the offerings, at such expense as the senate should direct by their vote, at the time when the vow was to be put in act. Before this, the great Edition: current; Page: [229] games, so often vowed, were constantly rated at a certain expense: this was the first time that the sum was not specified.

X. While every one’s attention was turned to the Macedonian war, and at a time when people apprehended nothing less, a sudden account was brought of an inroad made by the Gauls. The Insubrians, Cænomanians and Boians, having been joined by the Salyans, Ilvatians, and other Ligurian states, and putting themselves under the command of Hamilcar, a Carthaginian, who, having been in the army of Hasdrubal, had remained in those parts, had fallen upon Placentia; and, after plundering the city, and, in their rage, burning a great part of it, leaving scarcely two thousand men among the flames and ruins, passed the Po, and advanced to plunder Cremona. The news of the calamity, which had fallen on a city in their neighbourhood, having reached thither, the inhabitants had time to shut their gates, and place guards on the walls, that they might, at least, try the event of a siege, and send messengers to the Roman prætor. Lucius Furius Purpureo, who had then the command of the province, had, in pursuance of the decree of the senate, disbanded the army, excepting five thousand of the allies and Latine confederates; and had halted, with these troops, in the nearest district of the province about Ariminum. He immediately informed the senate, by letter, of the subsisting tumult. That, “of the two colonies which had escaped the general wreck in the dreadful storm of the Punic war, one was taken and sacked by the present enemy, and the other besieged. Nor was his army capable of affording sufficient protection to the distressed colonists, unless he chose to expose five thousand allies to be slaughtered by forty thousand invaders (for so many there were in arms); and by such a loss, on his side, to augment their courage, already elated on having destroyed one Roman colony.”

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XI. On reading this letter it was decreed, that the consul Aurelius should order the army which he had appointed to assemble on a certain day in Etruria, to attend him on the same day at Ariminum; and should either go in person, if the public business would permit, to suppress the tumult of the Gauls, or write to the prætor Lucius Furius, that, as soon as the legions from Etruria came to him, he should send five thousand of the allies to guard that place in the mean time, and should himself proceed to relieve the colony from the siege. It was also decreed, that ambassadors should be sent to Carthage, and also into Numidia to Masinissa: to Carthage, to tell that people that “their countryman, Hamilcar, having been left in Gaul, (either with a part of the army formerly commanded by Hasdrubal, or with that of Mago—they did not with certainty know which,) was waging war, contrary to the treaty. That he had raised forces from among the Gauls and Ligurians, and persuaded them to take arms against Rome. That, if they chose a continuance of peace, they must recall him, and give him up to the Roman people.” They were ordered at the same time to tell them, that “all the deserters had not been produced; that a great part of them were said to appear openly in Carthage, who ought to be sought after, and surrendered according to the treaty.” This was the message they were to deliver to the Carthaginians. To Masinissa, they were charged with congratulations, on his “having not only recovered the kingdom of his father, but enlarged it by the acquisition of the most flourishing part of Syphax’s territories.” They were ordered also to acquaint him, that “the Romans had entered into a war against Philip, because he had given aid to the Carthaginians, while, by the injuries which he offered to the allies of the Roman people, he had obliged them to send fleets and armies into Greece, at a time when the flames of war spread over all Italy; and that by thus making them separate their forces, Edition: current; Page: [231] had been the principal cause of their being so late in passing over to Africa: and to request him to send some Numidian horsemen to assist in that war.” Ample presents were given them to be carried to the King: vases of gold and silver, a purple robe, and a tunic adorned with palms of purple, an ivory sceptre, and a robe of state, with a curule chair. They were also directed to assure him, that if he deemed any thing farther requisite to confirm and enlarge his kingdom, the Roman people, in return for his good services, would exert their utmost zeal to effect it. At this time, too, the senate was addressed by ambassadors from Vermina, son of Syphax, apologizing for his mistaken conduct, on account of his youth and want of judgment, and throwing all the blame on the deceitful policy of the Carthaginians: adding, that “as Masinissa had from an enemy become a friend to the Romans, so Vermina would also use his best endeavours that he should not be outdone in offices of friendship to the Roman people, either by Masinissa, or by any other; and requesting that he might receive from the senate, the title of king, friend and ally.” The answer given to these ambassadors was, that “not only his father Syphax, from a friend and ally, had on a sudden, without any reason, become an enemy to the Roman people, but that he himself had made his first essay of manhood in bearing arms against them. He must, therefore, sue to the Roman people for peace, before he could expect to be acknowledged king, ally, and friend; that it was the practice of that people to bestow the honour of such title, in return for great services performed by kings towards them; that the Roman ambassadors would soon be in Africa, to whom the senate would give instructions to regulate conditions of peace with Vermina, as he should submit the terms entirely to the will of the Roman people; and that, if he wished that any thing should be added, left out, or altered, he must make a second application to the senate.” The ambassadors sent to Edition: current; Page: [232] Africa on those affairs were Caius Terentius Varro, Publius Lucretius, and Cneius Octavius, each of whom had a quinquereme assigned him.

XII. A letter was then read in the senate, from Quintus Minucius, the prætor, who held the province of Bruttium, that “the money had been privately carried off by night out of the treasury of Proserpine at Locri; and that there were no traces which could direct to the discovery of the guilty persons.” The senate was highly incensed at finding that the practice of sacrilege continued, and that even the fate of Pleminius, an example so recent and so conspicuous both of the guilt and of the punishment, did not deter from it. They ordered the consul, Cneius Aurelius, to signify to the prætor in Bruttium, that “it was the pleasure of the senate, that an inquiry be made concerning the robbery of the treasury, according to the method used by Marcus Pomponius, prætor, three years before; that the money which could be discovered should be restored, and any deficiency be made up; and that, if he thought proper, atonements should be made for the purpose of expiating the violation of the temple, in the manner formerly prescribed by the pontiffs.” At the same time, also, accounts were brought of many prodigies happening in several places. It was said, that in Lucania the sky had been seen in a blaze; that at Privernum, in clear weather, the sun had been of a red colour during a whole day; that at Lanuvium, in the temple of Juno Sospita, a very loud bustling noise had been heard in the night. Besides, monstrous births of animals were related to have occurred in many places: in the country of the Sabines, an infant was born whose sex could not be distinguished; and another was found sixteen years old, whose sex also was doubtful. At Frusino a lamb was born with a swine’s head; at Sinuessa, a pig with a human head; and in Lucania, in the land belonging to the state, a foal with five feet. All these were considered as Edition: current; Page: [233] horrid and abominable, and as if nature were straying from her course in confounding the different species. Above all, the people were particularly shocked at the hermaphrodites, which were ordered to be immediately thrown into the sea, as had been lately done with a production of the same monstrous kind, in the consulate of Caius Claudius and Marcus Livius. Not satisfied with this, they ordered the decemvirs to inspect the books in regard to that progidy; and the decemvirs, from the books, directed the same religious ceremonies which had been performed on an occasion of the same kind. They ordered, besides, an hymn to be sung through the city by thrice nine virgins, and an offering to be made to Imperial Juno. The consul, Caius Aurelius, took care that all these matters were performed according to the direction of the decemvirs. The hymn was composed by Publius Licinius Tegula, as a similar one had been, in the memory of their fathers, by Livius.

XIII. All religious scruples were fully removed by expiations; at Locri, too, the affair of the sacrilege had been thoroughly investigated by Quintus Minucius, and the money replaced in the treasury out of the effects of the guilty. When the consuls wished to set out to their provinces, a number of private persons, to whom the third payment became due, that year, of the money which they had lent to the public in the consulate of Marcus Valerius and Marcus Claudius, applied to the senate. The consuls, however, having declared that the treasury being scarcely sufficient for the exigencies of a new war, in which a great fleet and great armies must be employed, there were no means of paying them at present. The senate could not avoid being affected by their complaints, in which they alleged that “if the state intended to use, for the purposes of the Macedonian war, the money which had been lent for the Punic war, as one war constantly arose after another, what would be the issue, but that, in return for their Edition: current; Page: [234] kind assistance to the public, their property would be confiscated, as if they had been guilty of some crime?” The demands of the private creditors being equitable, and the state being in no capacity of discharging the debt, they determined to pursue a middle course between equity and convenience; and accordingly they decreed, that “whereas many of them mentioned that lands were frequently exposed to sale, and that they themselves wished to become purchasers: they should, therefore, have liberty to purchase any belonging to the public, and which lay within fifty miles of the city. That the consuls should make a valuation of these, and impose on each acre a quit-rent of one as, as an acknowledgment that the land was the property of the public, in order that when the people should become able to pay, if any one chose rather to have the money than the land, he might restore it.” The private creditors accepted the terms with joy; and that land was called Trientius and Tabulius, because it was given in lieu of the third part of their money.

XIV. Publius Sulpicius, after making his vows in the Capitol, set out from the city in his robes of war, attended by his lictors, and arrived at Brundusium; where, having formed into legions the veteran soldiers of the African army who were willing to follow him, and chosen his number of ships out of the fleet of the late consul, Cornelius, he set sail, and next day arrived in Macedonia. There he was met by ambassadors from the Athenians, entreating him to relieve their city from the siege. Immediately, Caius Claudius Centho was despatched to Athens, with twenty ships of war, and a small body of land forces. For it was not the King himself who carried on the siege of Athens; he was at that time intently occupied in besieging Abydus, after having tried his strength at sea against Attalus, and against the Rhodians, without meeting success in either engagement. But, besides the natural presumptuousness of his temper, he Edition: current; Page: [235] acquired confidence from a treaty which he had formed with Antiochus, King of Syria, in which they had divided the wealth of Egypt between them; an object which, on hearing of the death of Ptolemy, they were both eager to secure. As to the Athenians, they had entangled themselves in a war with Philip on too trifling an occasion, and at a time when they retained nothing of their ancient dignity but pride. During the celebration of the mysteries, two young men of Acarnania, who were not initiated, unapprised of its being an offence against religion, entered the temple of Ceres along with the rest of the crowd: their discourse quickly betrayed them, by their asking questions which discovered their ignorance; whereupon, being carried before the presidents of the temple, although it was evident that they went in through mistake, yet they were put to death, as if for a heinous crime. The Acarnanian nation made complaint to Philip of this barbarous and hostile act, and prevailed on him to grant them some aid of Macedonian soldiers, and to allow them to make war on the Athenians. At first this army, after ravaging the lands of Attica with fire and sword, retired to Acarnania with booty of all kinds. This was the first provocation to hostilities. The Athenians afterwards, on their side, entered into a regular war, and proclaimed it by order of the state. For King Attalus and the Rhodians, having come to Ægina in pursuit of Philip, who was retiring to Macedonia, the King crossed over to Piræeus, for the purpose of renewing and strengthening the alliance between him and the Athenians. On entering the city, he was received by the whole inhabitants, who poured forth with their wives and children to meet him; by the priests, with their emblems of religion; and in a manner by the gods themselves, called forth from their abodes.

XV. Immediately the people were summoned to an assembly, that the King might treat with them in person on such Edition: current; Page: [236] subjects as he chose; but afterwards it was judged more suitable to his dignity to explain his sentiments in writing, than, being present, to be forced to blush, either at the recital of his extraordinary favours to the state, or at the immoderate applause of the multitude, which would overwhelm his modesty with acclamations, and other signs of approbation. In the letter which he sent, and which was read to the assembly, was contained, first, a recapitulation of the several acts of kindness which he had shown to the Athenian state, as his ally; then, of the actions which he had performed against Philip; and lastly, an exhortation to “enter immediately on the war; while they had him (Attalus), the Rhodians, and the Romans also to assist them;” not omitting to warn them, that “if they were backward now, they would hereafter wish, in vain, for the opportunity which they neglected.” They then gave audience to the ambassadors of the Rhodians, to whom they were under a recent obligation for having retaken, and sent home, four of their ships of war, which had been lately seized by the Macedonians. War was determined upon against Philip with universal consent. Unbounded honours were conferred on King Attalus, and then on the Rhodians. At that time, mention was made of adding a tribe, which they were to call Attalis, to the ten ancient tribes; the Rhodian state was presented with a golden crown, as an acknowledgment of its bravery, and the inhabitants with the freedom of Athens, in like manner as Rhodes had formerly honoured that people. After this, King Attalus returned to Ægina, where his fleet lay. From Ægina, the Rhodians sailed to Cia, and thence to Rhodes, steering their course among the islands, all of which they brought to join in the alliance, except Andros, Paros, and Cythnus, which were held by Macedonian garrisons. Attalus, having sent messengers to Ætolia, and expecting ambassadors from thence, was detained at Ægina, for some time, in a state of inaction; failing also in Edition: current; Page: [237] his endeavours to excite the Ætolians to arms, for they were rejoiced at having made peace with Macedon on any terms. Had Attalus and the Rhodians pressed Philip vigorously, they might have acquired the illustrious title of the deliverers of Greece, but by suffering him to pass over again into Hellespontus, and to strengthen himself by seizing the advantageous posts in Greece, they increased the difficulties of the war, and yielded up to the Romans the glory of having conducted and finished it.

XVI. Philip acted with a spirit more becoming a king; for, though he had found himself unequal to the forces of Attalus and the Rhodians, yet he was not dismayed, even by the prospect of an approaching war with the Romans. Sending Philocles, one of his generals, with two thousand foot and two hundred horse, to ravage the lands of the Athenians, he gave the command of his fleet to Heraclides, with orders to sail to Maronea, and marched thither himself by land, with two thousand foot, lightly equipped, and two hundred horse. Maronea he took at the first assault; and, afterwards, with a good deal of trouble, got possession of Ænus, which was at last betrayed to him by Ganymede, who commanded there for Ptolemy. He then seized on other forts, Cypselus, Doriscos, and Serrheus; and, advancing from thence to the Chersonesus, received Elæus and Allopeconnesus, which were surrendered by the inhabitants. Callipolis also, and Madytos, were given up to him, with several forts of but little consequence. The people of Abydus shut their gates against him, not suffering even his ambassadors to enter the place. The siege of this city detained Philip a long time; and it might have been relieved, if Attalus and the Rhodians had acted with any vigour. The King sent only three hundred men for a garrison, and the Rhodians one quadrireme from their fleet, although it was lying idle at Tenedos: and, afterwards, when the besieged could with difficulty hold out any longer, Attalus, Edition: current; Page: [238] going over in person, did nothing more than show them some hope of relief being near, giving not any real assistance to these his allies either by land or sea.

XVII. At first the people of Abydus, by means of engines placed along the walls, not only prevented the approaches by land, but annoyed the enemy’s ships in their station. Afterwards a part of the wall being thrown down, and the assailants having penetrated, by mines, to an inner wall, which had been hastily raised to oppose their entrance, the besieged sent ambassadors to the King to treat of terms of capitulation. They demanded permission to send away the Rhodian quadrireme, with the crew, and the troops of Attalus in the garrison; and that they themselves might depart from the city, each with one suit of apparel; but Philip’s answer afforded no hopes of accommodation, unless they surrendered at discretion. When this was reported by their ambassadors, it so exasperated them, rousing at the same time their indignation and despair, that, seized with the same kind of fury which had possessed the Saguntines, they ordered all the matrons to be shut up in the temple of Diana, and the free-born youths and virgins, and even the infants with their nurses, in the place of exercise; the gold and silver to be carried into the Forum; their valuable garments to be put on board the Rhodian ship, and another from Cyzicum, which lay in the harbour; the priests and victims to be brought, and altars to be erected in the midst. There they appointed a select number, who, as soon as they should see the army of their friends cut off in defending the breach, were instantly to slay their wives and children; to throw into the sea the gold, silver, and apparel that was on board the ships, and to set fire to the buildings, public and private: and to the performance of this deed they were bound by an oath, the priests repeating before them the verses of execration. Those who were of an age capable of fighting then swore to continue the battle till they fell, unless Edition: current; Page: [239] victorious. These, regardful of the gods by whom they had sworn, maintained their ground with such obstinacy, that although the night would soon have put a stop to the fight, yet the King, terrified by their fury, first drew off his forces. The chief inhabitants, to whom the more shocking part of the plan had been given in charge, seeing that few survived the battle, and that these were exhausted by fatigue and wounds, sent the priests (having their heads bound with the fillets of suppliants,) at the dawn of the next day, to surrender the city to Philip.

XVIII. Before the surrender, one of the Roman ambassadors who had been sent to Alexandria, Marcus Æmilius, being the youngest of them, in pursuance of a resolution which the three had jointly formed, on hearing of the present siege, came to Philip, and complained of his having made war on Attalus and the Rhodians; and particularly of the attack on Abydus, in which he was then employed: and on Philip’s saying that he had been forced into the war by Attalus and the Rhodians commencing hostilities against him,—“Did the people of Abydus, too,” said he, “commence hostilities against you?” To him, who was unaccustomed to hear truth, this language seemed too arrogant to be used to a king, and he answered,—“Your youth, the beauty of your form, and, above all, the name of Roman, render you too presumptuous. However, my first desire is, that you would observe the treaties, and continue in peace with me; but if you begin an attack, I am, on my part, determined to prove that the kingdom, and name, of the Macedonians is not less formidable in war than that of the Romans.” Having dismissed the ambassadors in this manner, Philip got possession of the gold and silver which had been thrown together in a heap, but was disappointed of his booty with respect to prisoners: for such violent frenzy had seized the multitude, that, on a sudden, taking up a persuasion that they were guilty of treachery towards Edition: current; Page: [240] those who had fallen in the battle, and upbraiding one another with perjury, especially the priests, who would surrender alive to the enemy those persons whom they themselves had devoted, they all at once ran different ways to put their wives and children to death; and then they put an end to their own lives by every possible method. The King, astonished at their madness, restrained the violence of his soldiers, and said, that “he would allow the people of Abydus three days to die in;” and, during this space, the vanquished perpetrated more deeds of cruelty on themselves, than the enraged conquerors would have committed; nor did any one of them come into the enemy’s hands alive, except such as were in chains, or under some other insuperable restraint. Philip, leaving a garrison in Abydus, returned to his kingdom; and, just when he had been encouraged by the destruction of the people of Abydus, to proceed in the war against Rome, as Hannibal had been by the destruction of Saguntum, he was met by couriers with intelligence, that the consul was already in Epyrus, and had drawn his land forces to Apollonia, and his fleet to Corcyra, into winter-quarters.

XIX. In the mean time, the ambassadors who had been sent into Africa, on the affair of Hamilcar, the leader of the Gallic army, received from the Carthaginians this answer: that “it was not in their power to do more than to inflict on him the punishment of exile, and to confiscate his effects: that they had delivered up all the deserters and fugitives, whom, on a diligent inquiry, they had been able to discover, and would send ambassadors to Rome, to satisfy the senate on that head.” They sent two hundred thousand measures of wheat to Rome, and the same quantity to the army in Macedonia. From thence the ambassadors proceeded into Numidia, to the kings; delivered to Masinissa the presents and the message according to their instructions, and out of two thousand Numidian horsemen, which he offered, accepted one Edition: current; Page: [241] thousand. Masinissa superintended in person the embarkation of these, and sent them, with two hundred thousand measures of wheat, and the same quantity of barley, into Macedonia. The third commission which they had to execute was with Vermina. He advanced to meet them, as far as the utmost limits of his kingdom, and left it to themselves to prescribe such conditions of peace as they thought proper, declaring, that “he should consider any peace with the Roman people as just and advantageous.” The terms were then settled, and he was ordered to send ambassadors to Rome to procure a ratification of the treaty.

XX. About the same time, Lucius Cornelius Lentulus, proconsul, came home from Spain; and having laid before the senate an account of his brave and successful conduct, during the course of many years, demanded that he might be allowed to enter the city in triumph. The senate, on this, gave their opinion, that “his services were, indeed, deserving of a triumph; but that they had no precedent left them by their ancestors, of any person enjoying a triumph, who was not, at the time of performing the service, on account of which he claimed that honour, either dictator, consul, or prætor; that he had held the province of Spain in quality of proconsul, and not of consul, or prætor.” They determined, however, that he might enter the city in ovation. Against this, Tiberius Sempronius Longus, tribune of the people, protested, alleging, that such proceedings would be no less unprecedented, and contrary to the practice of their ancestors, than the other; but, overcome at length by the unanimous desire of the senate, the tribune withdrew his opposition, and Lucius Lentulus entered the city in ovation. He carried to the treasury, forty-four thousand pounds weight of silver, and two thousand four hundred pounds weight of gold. To each Edition: current; Page: [242] of the soldiers he distributed, of the spoil, one hundred and twenty asses.*

XXI. The consular army had, by this time, removed from Arretium to Ariminum, and the five thousand Latine confederates had gone from Gaul into Etruria. Lucius Furius, therefore, advanced from Ariminum, by forced marches, against the Gauls, who were then besieging Cremona, and pitched his camp at the distance of one mile and a half from the enemy. Furius had an excellent opportunity of striking an important blow, had he, without halting, led his troops directly to attack their camp; they were scattered and dispersed through the country; and the guard, which they had left, was very insufficient; but he was apprehensive that his men were too much fatigued by their hasty march. The Gauls recalled from the fields by the shouts of their party, returned to the camp without seizing the booty within their reach, and, next day, marched out to offer battle; the Roman did not decline the combat, but had scarcely time to make the necessary dispositions, so rapidly did the enemy advance to the fight. The right brigade (for he had the troops of the allies divided into brigades) was placed in the first line, the two Roman legions in reserve. Marcus Furius was at the head of the right brigade, Marcus Cæcilius of the legions, and Lucius Valerius Flaccus of the cavalry: these were all lieutenant-generals. Two other lieutenant-generals, Cneius Lætorius and Publius Titinnius, the prætor kept near himself, that, with their assistance, he might observe, and take proper measures against any sudden attack. At first, the Gauls, bending their whole force to one point, were in hopes of being able to overwhelm, and trample under foot, the right brigade, which was in the van; but not succeeding, they endeavoured to turn round the flanks, and to surround their enemy’s line, which, considering the multitude Edition: current; Page: [243] of their forces, and the small number of the others, seemed easy to be done. On observing this, the prætor, in order to extend his own line, brought up the two legions from the reserve, and placed them on the right and left of the brigade which was engaged in the van; vowing a temple to Jupiter, if he should on that day prove victorious. To Lucius Valerius he gave orders, to make the horsemen of the two legions on one flank, and the cavalry of the allies on the other, charge the wings of the enemy, and not suffer them to come round to his rear. At the same time, observing that the centre of their line was weakened, from having extended the wings, he directed his men to make an attack there in close order, and to break through their ranks. The wings were routed by the cavalry, and, at the same time, the centre by the foot. Being worsted in all parts with great slaughter, the Gauls quickly turned their backs, and fled to their camp in hurry and confusion. The cavalry pursued them; and the legions, coming up in a short time after, assaulted the camp, from whence there did not escape so many as six thousand men. There were slain and taken above thirty-five thousand, with eighty standards, and above two hundred Gallic wagons laden with booty of all kinds. Hamilcar, the Carthaginian general, fell that day, and three distinguished generals of the Gauls. The prisoners taken at Placentia, to the number of two thousand free-men, were restored to the colony.

XXII. This was an important victory, and caused great joy at Rome. On receipt of the prætor’s letter, a supplication for three days was decreed. In that battle, there fell of the Romans and allies two thousand, most of them in the right brigade, against which, in the first onset, the most violent efforts of the enemy had been directed. Although the prætor had brought the war almost to a conclusion, yet the consul, Cneius Aurelius, having finished the business which required Edition: current; Page: [244] his attendance at Rome, set out for Gaul, and received the victorious army from the prætor. The other consul arriving in his province towards the end of autumn, passed the winter in the neighbourhood of Apollonia. Caius Claudius, and the Roman triremes which had been sent to Athens from the fleet that was laid up at Corcyra, as was mentioned above, arriving at Piræeus, greatly revived the hopes of their allies, who were beginning to give way to despair. Their arrival not only put a stop to the inroads by land, which used to be made from Corinth through Megara, but so terrified the pirates from Chalcis, who had been accustomed to infest both the Athenian sea and coast, that they dared not venture round the promontory of Sunium, nor even trust themselves out of the streights of the Euripus. In addition to these came three quadriremes from Rhodes, the Athenians having three open ships, which they had equipped for the protection of their lands on the coast. While Claudius thought, that if he were able with his fleet to give security to the Athenians, it was as much as could be expected at present, Fortune threw in his way an opportunity of accomplishing an enterprise of greater moment.

XXIII. Some exiles driven from Chalcis, by ill-treatment received from the King’s party, brought intelligence, that the place might be taken without even a contest; for the Macedonians, being under no immediate apprehension from an enemy, were straying idly about the country; and the townsmen, depending on the Macedonian garrison, neglected the guard of the city. Claudius, in consequence of this, set out, and though he arrived at Sunium early enough to have sailed forward to the entrance of the streight of Eubœa, yet fearing that, on doubling the promontory, he might be descried by the enemy, he lay by with the fleet until night. As soon as it grew dark he began to move, and, favoured by a calm, arrived at Chalcis a little before day; and then, approaching Edition: current; Page: [245] the city, on a side where it was thinly inhabited, with a small party of soldiers, and by means of scaling ladders, he got possession of the nearest tower, and the wall on each side. Finding in some places the guards asleep, and other parts left without any watch, they advanced to the more populous parts of the town, and having slain the sentinels, and broken open a gate, they gave an entrance to the main body of the troops. These immediately spread themselves through all parts of the city, and increased the tumult by setting fire to the buildings round the Forum, by which means both the granaries belonging to the King, and his armory, with a vast store of machines and engines, were reduced to ashes. Then commenced a general slaughter of those who fled, as well as of those who made resistance; and after having either put to the sword or driven out every one who was of an age fit to bear arms, (Sopater also, the Acarnanian, who commanded the garrison, being slain,) they first collected all the spoil in the Forum, and then carried it on board the ships. The prison, too, was forced open by the Rhodians, and those whom Philip had shut up there, were set at liberty. They next pulled down and mutilated the statues of the King; and then, on a signal being given for a retreat, reimbarked and returned to Piræeus, from whence they had set out. If there had been a sufficient number of Roman soldiers to have kept possession of Chalcis, without stripping Athens of a proper garrison, that city and the command of the Euripus would have been a most important advantage at the commencement of the war: for as the pass of Thermopylæ is the principal barrier of Greece by land, so is the streight of the Euripus by sea.

XXIV. Philip was then at Demetrias, and as soon as the news arrived there of the calamity which had befallen the city of his allies, although it was too late to carry assistance to those who were already ruined, yet anxious to accomplish Edition: current; Page: [246] what was next to assistance, revenge, he set out instantly with five thousand foot lightly equipped, and three hundred horse. With a speed almost equal to that of racing, he hastened to Chalcis, not doubting but that he should be able to surprise the Romans. Finding himself disappointed, and that his coming answered no other end than to give him a melancholy view of the smoking ruins of that friendly city, (so few being left, that they were scarcely sufficient to bury those who had fallen by the sword of the enemy,) with the same rapid haste which he had used in coming, he crossed the Euripus by the bridge, and led his troops through Bœotia to Athens, in hopes that a similar attempt might be attended by a similar issue. And he would have succeeded, had not a scout (one of those whom the Greeks call day-runners,* because they run through a journey of great length in one day,) descrying from his post of observation the King’s army in its march, set out at midnight, and arrived before them at Athens. The same sleep, and the same negligence, prevailed there which had proved the ruin of Chalcis a few days before. Roused, however, by the alarming intelligence, the prætor of the Athenians, and Dioxippus, commander of a cohort of mercenary auxiliaries, called the soldiers together in the Forum, and ordered the trumpets to sound an alarm from the citadel, that all might be informed of the approach of the enemy. On which the people ran from all quarters to the gates, and afterwards to the walls. In a few hours after, and still some time before day, Philip approached the city, and observing a great number of lights, and hearing the noise of the men hurrying to and fro, as usual on such an alarm, he halted his troops, and ordered them to sit down and take some rest; resolving to use open force, since his design of surprise had not succeeded. Accordingly he advanced on Edition: current; Page: [247] the side of Dipylos, or the double gate, which being the principal entrance of the city is somewhat larger and wider than the rest. Both within and without the streets are wide, so that the townsmen could form their troops from the Forum to the gate, while on the outside, a road of about a mile in length, leading to the school of the academy, afforded open room to the foot and horse of the enemy. The Athenians, who had formed their troops within the gate, marched out with Attalus’s garrison, and the cohort of Dioxippus, along that road. This Philip observed, and thinking that he had the enemy in his power, and might now satisfy his revenge in their destruction, and which he had long wished for, (being more incensed against them than any of the Grecian states,) he exhorted his men to keep their eyes on him during the fight, and to take notice, that wherever the King was, there the standards and the army ought to be. He then spurred on his horse, animated not only with resentment, but with a desire of gaining honour, reckoning it a glorious opportunity of displaying his prowess, in the view of an immense crowd which covered the walls, many of them for the purpose of beholding the engagement. Advancing far before the line, and, with a small body of horse, rushing into the midst of the enemy, he inspired his men with great ardour, and the Athenians with terror. Having wounded many with his own hand, both in close fight and with missive weapons, and driven them back within the gate, he still pursued them closely; and having made greater slaughter among them while embarrassed in the narrow pass, rash as the attempt was, he yet retired unmolested: because those who were in the towers withheld their weapons lest they should hit their friends, who were mingled in confusion among their enemies. The Athenians, after this, confining their troops within the walls, Philip sounded a retreat, and pitched his camp at Cynosarges, a temple of Hercules, and a school surrounded by Edition: current; Page: [248] a grove. But Cynosarges, and Lycæum, and whatever was sacred or pleasant in the neighbourhood of the city, he burned to the ground, and levelled, not only the houses, but sepulchres, paying no regard, in the violence of his rage, to any privilege either of men or gods.

XXV. Next day, the gates having at first been shut, and afterwards suddenly thrown open, in consequence of a body of Attalus’s troops from Ægina, and the Romans from Piræeus, having entered the city, the King removed his camp to the distance of about three miles. From thence he proceeded to Eleusis, in hopes of suprising the temple, and a fort which overlooks and surrounds it; but, finding that the guards were attentive, and that the fleet was coming from Piræeus to support them, he laid aside the design, and led his troops, first to Megara, and then to Corinth; where, on hearing that the council of the Achæans was then sitting at Argos, he went and joined the assembly, to the surprise of that people. They were at the time employed in forming measures for a war against Nabis, tyrant of the Lacedæmonians; who (observing, on the command being transferred from Philopæmen to Cycliadas, a general much inferior to him, that the confederates of the Achæans were falling off,) had renewed the war, and besides ravaging the territories of his neighbours, was become formidable even to the cities. While they were deliberating what number of men should be raised out of each of the states to oppose this enemy, Philip promised that he would relieve them from all anxiety, as far as concerned Nabis and the Lacedæmonians; and that he would not only secure the lands of their allies from devastation, but transfer the whole terror of the war on Laconia itself, by leading his army thither instantly. This discourse being received with general approbation, he added,—“It is but reasonable, however, that while I am employed in protecting Edition: current; Page: [249] your property by my arms, my own should not be exposed without defence; therefore, if you think proper, provide such a number of troops as will be sufficient to secure Orcus, Chalcis, and Corinth; that my affairs, being in a state of safety behind me, I may proceed, without distraction, to attack Nabis and the Lacedæmonians.” The Achæans were not ignorant of the tendency of these kind promises, and his offer of assistance against the Lacedæmonians, and that his view was to draw the Achæan youth out of Peloponnesus as hostages, that he might have it in his power to embroil the nation in a war with the Romans. Cycliades, prætor, thinking that it would answer no purpose to expose his scheme by argument, said nothing more than that it was not allowable, according to the laws of the Achæans, to take any matter into consideration except that on which they had been called together: and the decree for levying an army against Nabis being passed, he dismissed the assembly, after having presided in it with much resolution and public spirit, although, until that day, he had been reckoned a partizan of the King. Philip, grievously disappointed, after having collected a few voluntary soldiers, returned to Corinth, and from thence into the territories of Athens.

XXVI. While Philip was in Achaia, Philocles, one of the generals, marching from Eubœa with two thousand Thracians and Macedonians, intending to lay waste the territories of the Athenians, crossed the forest of Cithæron, opposite to Eleusis. Despatching half of his troops, to make depredations in all parts of the country, he lay concealed with the remainder in a place convenient for an ambush; in order that if any attack should be made from the fort at Eleusis on his men employed in plundering, he might suddenly fall upon the enemy unawares, and while they were in disorder. His stratagem did not escape discovery: wherefore, calling back the soldiers, who had gone different ways in pursuit of Edition: current; Page: [250] booty, and drawing them up in order, he advanced to assault the fort at Eleusis; but being repulsed from thence with many wounds, he joined Philip on his return from Achaia, who was also induced to a similar attempt: but the Roman ships coming from Piræeus, and a body of forces being thrown into the fort, he was compelled to relinquish the design. On this the King, dividing his army, sent Philocles with one part to Athens, and went himself with the other to Piræeus; that, while his general, by advancing to the walls and threatening an assault, should keep the Athenians within the city, he might be able to make himself master of the harbour, which he supposed would be left with only a slight garrison. But he found the attack of Piræeus no less difficult than that of Eleusis, the same persons acting in its defence. He therefore hastily led his troops to Athens, and being repulsed by a sudden sally of both foot and horse, who engaged him in the narrow ground, inclosed by the half-ruined wall, which, with two arms, joins Piræeus to Athens, he laid aside the scheme of attacking the city, and, dividing his forces again with Philocles, set out to complete the devastation of the country. As, in his former ravages, he had employed himself in levelling the sepulchres round the city, so now, not to leave any thing unviolated, he ordered the temples of the gods, of which they had one consecrated in every village, to be demolished and burned. The country of Attica afforded ample matter for the exercise of this barbarous rage: for it was highly embellished with works of that kind, having plenty of marble, and abounding with artists of exquisite ingenuity. Nor was he satisfied with merely destroying the temples themselves, and overthrowing the images, but he ordered even the stones to be broken, lest, remaining whole, they should give a degree of grandeur to the ruins; and then, his rage not being satiated, but no object remaining on which Edition: current; Page: [251] it could be exercised, he retired from Bœotia, without having performed in Greece any thing else worth mention.

XXVII. The consul, Sulpicius, who was at that time encamped on the river Apsus, between Apollonia and Dyrrachium, having ordered Lucius Apustius, lieutenant-general, thither, sent him with part of the forces to lay waste the enemy’s country. Apustius, after ravaging the frontiers of Macedonia, and having, at the first assault, taken the forts of Corragos, Gerrunios, and Orgessos, came to Antipatria, a city situated in a narrow vale; where, at first inviting the leading men to a conference, he endeavoured to prevail on them to put themselves under the protection of the Romans; but finding that from confidence in the size, fortifications and situation of their city, they paid no regard to his discourse, he attacked the place by force of arms, and took it by assault: then, putting all the young men to the sword, and giving up the entire spoil to his soldiers, he razed the walls, and burned the buildings. This proceeding spread such terror, that Codrion, a strong and well-fortified town, surrendered to the Romans without a struggle. Leaving a garrison there, he took Ilion by force, a name better known than the town, on account of that of the same denomination in Asia. As the lieutenant-general was returning to the consul with a great quantity of spoil, Athenagoras, one of the King’s generals, falling on his rear, in its passage over a river, threw it into disorder. On hearing the shouting and tumult, Apustius rode back in full speed, ordered the troops to face about, and drew them up in order, with the baggage in the centre. The King’s troops could not support the onset of the Roman soldiers: so that many of them were slain, and more made prisoners. The lieutenant-general having brought back the army without loss, to the consul, was ordered to return immediately to the fleet.

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XXVIII. The war commencing thus brilliantly with this successful expedition, several petty kings and princes, whose dominions bordered on Macedonia, came to the Roman camp: Pleuratus, son of Scerdilædus, and Amynander, King of the Athamanians; and from the Dardanians, Bato, son of Longarus. This Longarus had, in his own quarrel, supported a war against Demetrius, father of Philip. To their offers of aid, the consul answered, that he would make use of the assistance of the Dardanians, and of Pleuratus, when he should lead his troops into Macedonia. To Amynander he allotted the part of exciting the Ætolians to war. To the ambassadors of Attalus, (for they also had come at the same time,) he gave directions that the King should wait at Ægina, where he wintered, for the arrival of the Roman fleet; and when joined by that, he should, as before, harass Philip by such enterprises as he could undertake by sea. To the Rhodians, also, an embassy was sent, to engage them to contribute their share towards carrying on the war. Nor was Philip, who had by this time arrived in Macedonia, remiss in his preparations for the campaign. He sent his son Perseus, then very young, with part of his forces to block up the pass near Pelagonia; appointing persons out of the number of his friends to attend him, and direct his unexperienced age. Sciathus and Peparethus, no inconsiderable cities, he demolished, fearing they might fall a prey to the enemy’s fleet; despatching at the same time ambassadors to the Ætolians, lest that restless nation might change sides on the arrival of the Romans.

XXIX. The assembly of the Ætolians, which they call Panætolium, was to meet on a certain day. In order to be present at this, the King’s ambassadors hastened their journey, and Lucius Furius Purpureo also arrived, being sent in like capacity by the consul. Ambassadors from Athens, likewise, came to this assembly. The Macedonians were Edition: current; Page: [253] first heard, as with them the latest treaty had been made; and they declared, that “as no change of circumstances had occurred, they had nothing new to introduce; for the same reasons which had induced the Ætolians to make peace with Philip, after experiencing the unprofitableness of an alliance with the Romans, should engage them to deserve it, now that it was established. Do you rather choose,” said one of the ambassadors, “to imitate the inconsistency, or levity, shall I call it, of the Romans, who ordered this answer to be given to your ambassadors at Rome: ‘Why, Ætolians, do you apply to us, when without our approbation you have made peace with Philip?’ Yet these same people now require, that you should, in conjunction with them, wage war against Philip. Formerly, too, it was pretended that they took arms on your account, and in your defence against Philip: now they do not allow you to continue at peace with him. To assist Messana, they first embarked for Sicily; and a second time, to vindicate the liberty of Syracuse, oppressed by the Carthaginians. Both Messana and Syracuse, and all Sicily, they hold in their own possession, and have reduced it into a tributary province under their axes and rods. You imagine, perhaps, that in the same manner as you hold an assembly at Naupactus, according to your own laws, under magistrates of your own appointment, at liberty to choose allies and enemies, and to have peace or war at your own option, so the assembly of the states of Sicily is summoned to Syracuse, or Messana, or Lilybæum. No, a Roman prætor presides at the meeting; at his command they assemble; they behold him, attended by his lictors, seated on a lofty throne, issuing his haughty edicts. His rods are ready for their backs, his axes for their necks, and every year they are allotted a different master. Neither ought they, nor can they, wonder at this, when they see all the cities of Italy, bending under the same yoke,—Rhegium, Tarentum, Capua, not to Edition: current; Page: [254] mention those in their own neighbourhood, out of the ruins of which their city of Rome grew into power. Capua indeed subsists, the grave and monument of the Campanian people, who were either cut off, or driven into banishment; the mutilated carcase of a city, without senate, without commons, without magistrates; a sort of prodigy, the leaving which to be inhabited in this manner, showed more cruelty than if it had been razed to the ground. If foreigners, who are separated from us to a greater distance by their language, manners, and laws, than by the length of sea and land, are allowed to get footing here, it is madness to hope that any thing will continue in its present state. Does your liberty appear to be in any degree of danger from the government of Philip, who, at a time when he was justly incensed, demanded nothing more of you than peace; and at present requires no more than the observance of the peace which ye agreed to? Accustom foreign legions to these countries, and receive the yoke; too late and in vain, will you look for an alliance with Philip, when you will have become a property of the Romans. Trifling causes occasionally unite and disunite the Ætolians, Acarnanians, and Macedonians, men speaking the same language. With foreigners, with barbarians, all Greeks have, and ever will have, eternal war: because they are enemies by nature, which is always the same, and not from causes which change with the times. I conclude my discourse with the same argument with which I began. Three years since, the same persons, assembled in this same place, determined on peace with the same Philip, contrary to the inclinations of the same Romans, who now wish that the peace should be broken, after it has been adjusted and ratified. In the subject of your deliberation, fortune has made no change; why you should make any, I do not see.”

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XXX. Next, after the Macedonians, with the consent and at the desire of the Romans, the Athenians were introduced; who, having suffered grievously, could, with the greater justice, inveigh against the cruelty and inhumanity of the King. They represented, in a deplorable light, the miserable devastation and ruin of their country; adding, that, “they did not complain on account of having, from an enemy, suffered hostile treatment; for there were certain rights of war, according to which, as it was just to act, so it was just to endue. Their crops being burned, their houses demolished, their men and cattle carried off as spoil, were to be considered, rather as misfortunes to the sufferer, than as ill-treatment. But of this they had good reason to complain, that he who called the Romans foreigners and barbarians, had so atrociously violated, himself, all rights both divine and human, as, in his former inroad, to have waged an impious war against the infernal gods, in the latter against those above. That every sepulchre and monument within their country was demolished, the graves torn open, and the bones left uncovered. There had been several temples, which in former times, when their ancestors dwelt in the country in their separate districts, had been consecrated in each of their little forts and villages, and which, even after they were incorporated into one city, they did not neglect or forsake. Every one of these sacred edifices had Philip destroyed by fire, and left the images of the gods lying scorched and mutilated among the prostrated pillars of the temples. Such as he had rendered the country of Attica, formerly opulent, and adorned with improvements, such, if he were suffered, would he render Ætolia and every part of Greece. That Athens, also, would have been reduced to the same ruinous state, if the Romans had not come to its relief: for he had shewn the same wicked rage against the gods, who are the guardians of the city, and Minerva who presides over the citadel; the same against the temple of Edition: current; Page: [256] Ceres at Eleusis; the same against Jupiter and Minerva at Piræeus. In a word, having been repelled by force of arms, not only from their temples, but even from their walls, he had vented his fury on those sacred edifices, which had no defence but in the respect due to religion. They therefore entreated and besought the Ætolians, that, compassionating the Athenians, and following the guidance of the gods, and, under them, of the Romans, who, next to the gods, possessed the greatest power, they would take part in the war.”

XXXI. The Roman ambassador then addressed them to this purport: “The Macedonians, first, and, afterwards, the Athenians, have obliged me to change entirely the method of my discourse. For, on the one hand, the Macedonians, by introducing charges against the Romans, when I had come prepared to make complaint of the injuries committed by Philip against so many cities in alliance with us, have obliged me to think of defence rather than accusation; and, on the other hand, after the relation given by the Athenians, of his inhuman and impious crimes against the gods both celestial and infernal, what room is there left for me, or any other, to make any addition to the charge? You are to suppose, that the same complaints are made by the Cianians, Abydenians, Æneans, Maronites, Thasians, Parians, Samians, Larissenians, Messenians, on the side of Achaia; and complaints, still heavier and more grievous, by those whom he had it more in his power to injure. For as to those proceedings which he censures in us, if they are not found highly meritorious, let them not be defended. He has objected to us, Rhegium, and Capua, and Syracuse. As to Rhegium, during the war with Pyrrhus, a legion which, at the earnest request of the Rhegians themselves, we had sent thither as a garrison, wickedly possessed themselves of the city which they had been sent to defend. Did we then approve of that deed? or did we exert the force of our arms against that Edition: current; Page: [257] guilty legion, until we reduced them under our power; and then, after making them give satisfaction to the allies, by their stripes and the loss of their heads, restore to the Rhegians their city, their lands, and all their effects, together with their liberty and laws? To the Syracusans, when oppressed (and, to add to the indignity, by foreign tyrants), we lent assistance; and after enduring great fatigues in carrying on the siege of so strong a city, both by land and sea, for almost three years, (although the Syracusans themselves chose to continue in slavery to the tyrants, rather than to trust to us,) yet, becoming masters of the place, and by exertion of the same force setting it at liberty, we restored it to the inhabitants. At the same time, we do not deny that Sicily is our province, and that the states which sided with the Carthaginians, and, in conjunction with them, waged war against us, pay us tribute and taxes; on the contrary, we wish that you and all nations should know, that the condition of each is such as it has deserved at our hands: and ought we to repent of the punishment inflicted on the Campanians, of which even they themselves cannot complain? These men, after we had on their account carried on war against the Samnites for near seventy years, with great losses on our side; had united them to ourselves, first by treaty, and then by intermarriages, and the consequent affinities; and lastly, by admitting them to a participation of the rights of our state, yet in the time of our adversity, were the first of all the states of Italy which revolted to Hannibal, after basely putting our garrison to death, and afterwards, through resentment at being besieged by us, sent Hannibal to attack Rome. If neither their city nor one man of them had been left remaining, who could take offence, or consider them as treated with more severity than they had deserved? From consciousness of guilt, greater numbers of them perished by their own hands, than by the punishments inflicted by us. And while from the rest we took away the Edition: current; Page: [258] town and the lands, still we left them a place to dwell in, we suffered the city which partook not of the guilt to stand uninjured; so that there is not visible this day, any trace of its having been besieged or taken. But why do I speak of Capua, when even to vanquished Carthage we granted peace and liberty. The greatest danger is, that by our too great readiness to pardon such, we may encourage others to try the fortune of war against us. Let so much suffice in our defence, and against Philip, whose domestic crimes, whose parricides and murders of his relations and friends, and whose lust, more disgraceful to human nature, if possible, than his cruelty, you, as being nearer to Macedonia, are better acquainted with. As to what concerns you, Ætolians, we entered into a war with Philip on your account: you made peace with him without consulting us. Perhaps you will say, that while we were occupied in the Punic war, you were constrained by fear to accept terms of pacification, from him who possessed superior power; and that on our side, pressed by more urgent affairs, we suspended our operations in a war which you had laid aside. At present, as we, having, by the favour of the gods, brought the Punic war to a conclusion, have fallen on Macedonia with the whole weight of our power, so you have an opportunity offered you of regaining a place in our friendship and alliance, unless you choose to perish with Philip, rather than to conquer with the Romans.”

XXXII. After this discourse of the ambassador, the inclinations of all leaning towards the Romans, Damocritus, prætor of the Ætolians, (who, it was reported, had received money from the King,) without seeming to favour either party, said,—that, “in consultations wherein the public safety was deeply interested, nothing was so injurious as haste. That repentance, indeed, generally followed, and that quickly, but yet too late and unavailing; because designs carried on with precipitation could not be recalled, nor matters brought back Edition: current; Page: [259] to their original state. The time, however, for determining the point under consideration, which, for his part, he thought should not be too early, might yet immediately be fixed in this manner. As it had been provided by the laws, that no determination should be made concerning peace or war, except in the Panætolic or Pylaic councils; let them immediately pass a decree, that the prætor, when he chooses to treat of either, may have full authority to summon a council; and that whatever shall be then debated and decreed, shall be, to all intents and purposes, legal and valid, as if it had been transacted in the Panætolic or Pylaic assembly.” And thus dismissing the ambassadors, without coming to any resolution, he said, that therein he acted most prudently for the interest of the state; for the Ætolians would have it in their power to join in alliance with whichever of the parties should be more successful in the war. Nothing further was done in the assembly.

XXXIII. Meanwhile Philip was making vigorous preparations for carrying on the war both by sea and land. His naval forces he drew together at Demetrias in Thessaly; supposing that Attalus, and the Roman fleet, would move from Ægina in the beginning of the spring. He gave the command of the fleet and of the sea-coast to Heraclides, to whom he had formerly intrusted it. The equipment of the land forces he took care of in person; and thought that he had deprived the Romans of two powerful auxiliaries, the Ætolians on the one side, and the Dardanians on the other, by making his son Perseus block up the pass at Pelagonia. The consul was employed, not in preparations, but in the operations of war. He led his army through the country of the Dassaretians, leaving the corn untouched, which he had brought from his winter quarters, for the fields afforded supplies sufficient for the consumption of the troops. The towns and villages surrendered to him, some through inclination, Edition: current; Page: [260] others through fear; some were taken by assault, others were found deserted, the barbarians flying to the neighbouring mountains. He fixed a standing camp at Lycus near the river Beous, and from thence sent to bring in corn from the magazines of the Dassaretians. Philip saw the whole country filled with consternation, and not knowing the designs of the consul, he sent a party of horse to discover his route. Sulpicius was in the same state of uncertainty; he knew that the King had moved from his winter quarters, but in what direction he had proceeded, he knew not: he also had sent horsemen to gain intelligence. These two parties having set out from opposite quarters, after wandering a long time among the Dassaretians, through unknown roads, fell at length into the same road. Neither doubted, as soon as the noise of men and horses was heard at a distance, that an enemy approached: therefore, before they came within sight of each other, they got their arms in readiness, and the moment they met, both hastened eagerly to engage. As they happened to be nearly equal in number and valour, being picked men on both sides, they fought during several hours with vigour, until fatigue, both of men and horses, put an end to the fight, without deciding the victory. Of the Macedonians, there fell forty horsemen; of the Romans, thirty-five. Still, however, neither party was able to carry back any certain information in what quarter the camp of his enemy lay. But this was soon made known to them by deserters; of whom, either through restlessness, or the prospect of reward, a sufficient number are found, in every war, to discover the affairs of the contending parties.

XXXIV. Philip, judging that it would tend considerably towards conciliating the affections of his men, and induce them to face danger more readily on his account, if he bestowed some pains on the burial of the horsemen, who fell in that expedition, ordered them to be conveyed into the camp, in Edition: current; Page: [261] order that all might be spectators of the honours paid them at their funeral. Nothing is so uncertain, or so difficult to form a judgment of, as the minds of the multitude. The very measures which seem calculated to increase their alacrity, in exertions of every sort, often inspire them with fear and timidity. Accordingly those, who, being always accustomed to fight with Greeks and Illyrians, had only seen wounds made with javelins and arrows, seldom even by lances, came to behold bodies dismembered by the Spanish sword, some with their arms lopped off, or, the neck entirely cut through, heads severed from the trunk, and the bowels laid open, with other shocking circumstances which the present warfare had wrought: they therefore perceived, with horror, against what weapons and what men they were to fight. Even the King himself was seized with apprehensions, having never yet engaged the Romans in a regular battle. Wherefore, recalling his son, and the guard posted at the pass of Pelagonia, in order to strengthen his army by the addition of those troops, he thereby opened a passage into Macedonia for Pleuratus and the Dardanians. Then, taking deserters for guides, he marched towards the enemy with twenty thousand foot and four thousand horse, and, at the distance of somewhat more than two hundred paces from the Roman camp, and near Ithacus, he fortified a hill with a trench and rampart. From this place, taking a view of the Roman station, in the valley beneath, he is said to have been struck with admiration, both at the general appearance of the camp, and the regular disposition of each particular part, distinguished by the order of the tents, and the intervals of the passages, and to have declared, that, certainly, that was not a camp of barbarians. For two days, the consul and the King, each waiting for the other’s making some attempt, kept their troops within the ramparts. On the third day, the Roman led out all his forces, and offered battle.

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XXXV. But the King, not daring to risk so hastily a general engagement, sent four hundred Trallians, who are a tribe of the Illyrians, as we have said in another place, and three hundred Cretans; adding to this body of infantry an equal number of horse, under the command of Athenagoras, one of his nobles honoured with the purple, to make an attack on the enemy’s cavalry. When these troops arrived within a little more than five hundred paces, the Romans sent out the light-infantry, and two cohorts of horse, that both cavalry and infantry might be equal in number to the Macedonians. The King’s troops expected that the method of fighting would be such as they had been accustomed to; that the horsemen, pursuing and retreating alternately, would at one time use their weapons, at another turn their backs; that the agility of the Illyrians would be serviceable for excursions and sudden attacks, and the Cretans might discharge their arrows as they advanced eagerly to the charge. But this plan of fighting was entirely disconcerted by the manner in which the Romans made their onset, which was not more brisk than it was obstinate: for the light-infantry, as if in a general line of battle, after discharging their javelins, carried on a close fight with their swords; and the horsemen, when they had once made a charge, stopping their horses, fought, some on horseback, while others dismounted and intermixed themselves with the foot. By this means neither were the King’s cavalry, who were unaccustomed to a steady fight, a match for the others; nor were the infantry, who were unacquainted with any other mode of fighting but that of skirmishing and irregular attacks, and were besides but half covered with the kind of harness which they used, at all equal to the Roman infantry, who carried a sword and buckler, and were furnished with proper armour, both to defend themselves, and to annoy the enemy: nor did they sustain the combat, but fled to their camp, trusting entirely to their speed for safety.

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XXXVI. After an interval of one day, the King, resolving to make an attack with all his cavalry and light-armed infantry, had, during the night, placed in ambush, in a convenient place between the two camps, a body of targeteers, whom they call Peltastæ, and given orders to Athenagoras and the cavalry, if they found they had the advantage in the open fight, to pursue success; if not, that they should retreat leisurely, and by that means draw on the enemy to the place where the ambush lay. The cavalry accordingly did retreat; but the officers of the body of targeteers, by bringing forward their men before the time, and not waiting for the signal, as they ought, lost an opportunity of performing considerable service. The Romans, having gained the victory in open fight, and also escaped the danger of the ambuscade, retired to their camp. Next day the consul marched out with all his forces, and offered battle, placing his elephants (which had been taken in the Punic war) in the front of the foremost battalions, and which was the first time that the Romans made use of those creatures in the field. Finding that the King kept himself quiet behind his entrenchments, he advanced close up to them, upbraiding him with cowardice; and as, notwithstanding, he still declined an engagement, the consul, considering how dangerous foraging must be while the camps lay so near each other, where the soldiers, dispersed through the country, were liable to be suddenly attacked by the horse, removed his camp to a place called Octolophus, distant about eight miles, where he could forage with more safety. While the Romans were collecting corn in the adjacent fields, the King kept his men within the trenches, in order to increase both the negligence and confidence of the enemy. But, when he saw them scattered, he set out with all his cavalry, and the auxiliary Cretans, and marching with such speed that the swiftest footmen could, by running, but just keep up with the horse, he took post between the camp of the Romans and their Edition: current; Page: [264] foragers. Then, dividing the forces, he sent one part of them in quest of the marauders, with orders to give no quarter; with the other, he himself halted, and placed guards on the roads through which he supposed the enemy would fly back to their camp. The slaughter and flight of the provisioning party had continued for some time on all sides, and no intelligence of the misfortune had yet reached the Roman camp, because those who fled towards the camp, fell in with the guards, which the King had stationed to intercept them, and greater numbers were slain by those who were placed in the roads, than by those who had been sent out to attack them. At length, a few effected their escape, through the midst of the enemy’s posts, but were so filled with terror, that they excited a general consternation in the camp, without being able to give any certain account of what was going on.

XXXVII. The consul, ordering the cavalry to carry aid to those who were in danger, in the best manner they could, drew out the legions from the camp, and led them in order of battle towards the enemy. The cavalry, taking different ways through the fields, missed the road, being deceived by the various shouts raised in several quarters. Some of them met with the enemy, and battles began in many places at once. The hottest part of the action was at the station where the King commanded; for the guard there was, in numbers both of horse and foot, almost a complete army; and, as they were posted on the middle road, the greatest number of the Romans fell in with them. The Macedonians had also the advantage in this, that the King himself was present to encourage them; and the Cretan auxiliaries, fighting in good order, and in a state of preparation, against troops disordered and irregular, wounded many at a distance, where no such danger was apprehended. If they had acted with prudence in the pursuit, they would have secured an advantage of great importance, not only in regard to the glory of the present Edition: current; Page: [265] contest, but to the general interest of the war; but, greedy of slaughter, and following with too much eagerness, they fell in with the advanced cohorts of the Romans under the military tribunes. The horsemen who were flying, as soon as they saw the ensigns of their friends, faced about against the enemy, now in disorder; so that in a moment’s time the fortune of the battle was changed, those now turning their backs, who had lately been the pursuers. Many were slain in close fight, many in the pursuit: nor was it by the sword alone that they perished; several being driven into morasses were, together with their horses, swallowed up in the deep mud. The King himself was in danger; for his horse falling, in consequence of a wound, threw him headlong to the ground, and he very narrowly escaped being overpowered before he could recover his feet. He owed his safety to a trooper, who instantly leaped from his horse, on which he mounted the affrighted King; himself, as he could not run so fast as to keep up with the horsemen, was slain by the enemy, who had collected about the place where Philip fell. The King, in his desperate flight, rode about among the morasses, some of which were easily passed, and others not; at length, when most men despaired of his ever returning, he arrived in safety at his camp. Two hundred Macedonian horsemen perished in that action; about one hundred were taken: eighty horses, richly caparisoned, were led off the field; at the same time the spoils of arms were also carried off.

XXXVIII. Some have found fault with the King, as guilty of rashness on that day; and with the consul, as not having pushed with spirit the advantage which he had gained. For Philip, they say, on his part, ought to have avoided coming to action, knowing that in a few days, the enemy, having exhausted all the adjacent country, must be reduced to the extremity of want; and that the consul, after having routed the Macedonian cavalry and light-infantry, and nearly taken the Edition: current; Page: [266] King himself, ought to have led on his troops directly to the enemy’s camp, where, dismayed as they were, they could have made no stand, and that he might have finished the war in a moment’s time. This, like most other matters, was easier in speculation than in practice. For, if the King had brought his infantry into the engagement, then, indeed, during the tumult, and while vanquished and struck with dismay, they fled from the field into their entrenchments, (and even continued their flight from thence on seeing the victorious enemy mounting the ramparts,) the King’s camp might have fallen into the Romans’ possession. But as the infantry had remained in the camp, fresh and free from fatigue, with outposts before the gates, and guards properly disposed, what would he have gained in having imitated the rashness of which the King had just now been guilty, by pursuing the routed horse? On the other side, the King’s first plan of an attack on the foragers, while dispersed through the fields, was not injudicious, could he have satisfied himself with a moderate degree of success: and it is the less surprising, that he should have made a trial of fortune, as there was a report, that Pleuratus and the Dardaniaus had marched with very numerous forces, and had already passed into Macedonia; so that if he should be surrounded on all sides, there was reason to think that the Roman might put an end to the war without stirring from his seat. Philip, however, considered, that after his cavalry had been defeated in two engagements, he could with much less safety continue in the same post; accordingly, wishing to remove from thence, and, at the same time, to keep the enemy in ignorance of his design, he sent a herald to the consul a little before sunset, to demand a truce for the purpose of burying the horsemen; and thus imposing on him, he began his march in silence, about the second watch, leaving a number of fires in all parts of his camp.

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XXXIX. The consul had already retired to take refreshment, when he was told that the herald had arrived, and on what business; he gave him no other answer, than that he should be admitted to an audience early the next morning: by which means, Philip gained what he wanted,—the length of that night, and part of the following day, during which he might march his troops beyond the enemy’s reach. He directed his route towards the mountains, a road which he knew the Romans with their heavy baggage would not attempt. The consul, having at the first light, dismissed the herald, with a grant of a truce, in a short time after discovered that the enemy had gone off; but not knowing what course to take in pursuit of them, he remained in the same camp for several days, which he employed in collecting forage. He then marched to Stubera, and brought thither, from Pelagonia, the corn that was in the fields. From thence he advanced to Pellina, not having yet discovered to what quarter the Macedonian had bent his course. Philip having at first fixed his camp at Bryanium, marched thence through cross-roads, and gave a sudden alarm to the enemy. The Romans, on this, removed from Pellina, and pitched their camp near the river Osphagus. The King also sat down at a small distance, forming his entrenchment on the bank of the river Erigonus. Having there received certain information, that the Romans intended to proceed to Eordæa, he marched away before them, in order to take possession of the defiles, and prevent the enemy from making their way, where the roads are confined in narrow streights. There, with much labour, he fortified some places with a rampart, others with a trench, others with stones heaped up, instead of walls, others with trees laid across, according as the situation required, or as materials lay convenient; and thus a road, in its own nature difficult, he rendered, as he imagined, impregnable by the works which he drew across every pass. Edition: current; Page: [268] The adjoining ground being mostly covered with woods, was exceedingly incommodious to the phalanx of the Macedonians, which is of no manner of use, except when they extend their very long spears before their shields, forming as it were a palisade; to perform which, they require an open plain. The Thracians, too, were embarrassed by their lances, which also are of a great length, and were entangled among the branches that stood in their way on every side. The body of Cretans alone was not unserviceable; and yet even these, though in case of an attack made on them, they could to good purpose discharge their arrows against the horses or riders, where they were open to a wound, yet against the Roman shields they could do nothing, because they had neither strength sufficient to pierce through them, nor was there any part exposed at which they could aim. Perceiving, therefore, that kind of weapon to be useless, they annoyed the enemy with stones, which lay in plenty in all parts of the valley: the strokes made by these on their shields, with greater noise than injury, for a short time retarded the advance of the Romans; but quickly learning to despise these weapons also, some closing their shields in form of a tortoise, forced their way through the enemy in front; others having, by a short circuit, gained the summit of the hill, dislodged the dismayed Macedonians from their guards and posts, and even slew the greater part of them, the difficulties of the ground preventing their escape.

XL. Thus, with less opposition than they had expected to meet, they passed the defiles, and came to Eordæa; then, having laid waste the whole country, the consul withdrew into Elimea. From thence he made an irruption into Orestis, and laid siege to the city Celetrum, situated in a peninsula: a lake surrounds the walls; and there is but one entrance from the main land along a narrow isthmus. Relying on their situation, the townsmen at first shut the gates, and Edition: current; Page: [269] refused to submit; but afterwards, when they saw the troops in motion, and advancing under cover of their closed shields, and the isthmus covered by the enemy marching in, their courage failed them, and they surrendered without hazarding a struggle. From Celetrum he advanced into the country of the Dassaretians, took the city Pelium by storm, carried off the slaves with the rest of the spoil, and discharging the freemen without ransom, restored the city to them, after placing a strong garrison in it, for it lay very conveniently for making inroads into Macedonia. Having thus carried devastation through the enemy’s country, the consul led back his forces into those parts, which were already reduced to obedience near Apollonia, from whence, at the beginning of the campaign, he had set out to begin his operations. Philip’s attention had been drawn to other quarters by the Ætolians, Athamanians, and Dardanians: so many were the wars that started up on different sides of him. Against the Dardanians, who were now retiring out of Macedonia, he sent Athenagoras with the light-infantry and the greater part of the cavalry, and ordered him to hang on their rear as they retreated; and, by cutting off their hindmost troops, make them more cautious for the future of leading out their armies from home. As to the Ætolians, Damocritus, their prætor, the same who at Naupactum had persuaded them to defer passing a decree concerning the war, had in the next meeting roused them to arms, after hearing of the battle between the cavalry at Octolophus; the irruption of the Dardanians and of Pleuratus, with the Illyrians, into Macedonia; of the arrival of the Roman fleet, too, at Oreus; and that Macedonia, besides being beset on all sides by so many nations, was in danger of being invested by sea also.

XLI. These reasons had brought back Damocritus and the Ætolians to the interest of the Romans. Marching out, therefore, in conjunction wiih Amynander, King of the Athamanians, Edition: current; Page: [270] they laid siege to Cercinium. The inhabitants here had shut their gates, whether of their own choice or by compulsion is unknown, as they had a garrison of the King’s troops. However, in a few days, Cercinium was taken and burned; and after great slaughter had been made, those who survived, both free men and slaves, were carried off amongst other spoil. This caused such terror, as made all those who dwelt round the lake Bæbis, abandon their cities and fly to the mountains; and the Ætolians not finding booty, turned away from thence, and proceeded into Perrhæbia. There they took Cyretiæ by storm, and sacked it without mercy. The inhabitants of Mallœa making a voluntary submission, were received into alliance. From Perrhæbia, Amynander advised to march to Gomphi, because that city lies close to Athamania, and there was reason to think that it might be reduced without any great difficulty. But the Ætolians, for the sake of plunder, directed their march to the rich plains of Thessaly, Amynander following, though he did not approve either of their careless method of carrying on their depredations, or of their pitching their camp in any place where chance directed, without choice, and without taking any care to fortify it. Therefore, lest their rashness and negligence might be the cause of some misfortune to himself and his troops, when he saw them forming their camp in low grounds, under the city Phecadus, he took possession, with his own troops, of an eminence about five hundred paces distant, which could be rendered secure by a slight fortification. The Ætolians seemed to have forgotton that they were in an enemy’s country, excepting that they continued to plunder, some straggling in small parties without arms, others spending whole days and nights in drinking and sleeping in the camp, neglecting even to fix guards, when Philip unexpectedly came upon them. His approach being announced by those who had fled out of the fields in a fright, threw Damocritus and Edition: current; Page: [271] the rest of the officers into great confusion. It happened to be mid-day, and when most of the men after a hearty meal lay fast asleep. Their officers roused them, however, as fast as possible; ordered them to take arms; despatched some to recall those who were straggling through the fields in search of plunder, and so violent was their hurry, that many of the horsemen went out without their swords, and but few of them put on their corslets. After marching out in this precipitate manner, (the whole horse and foot not amounting to six hundred,) they met the King’s cavalry, superior in number, in spirit, and in arms. They were, therefore, routed at the first charge; and having scarcely attempted resistance, returned to the camp in shameful flight. Several were slain; and some taken, having been cut off from the main body of the runaways.

XLII. Philip, when his troops had advanced almost to the rampart, ordered a retreat to be sounded, because both men and horses were fatigued, not so much by the action, as by the length of their march, and the extraordinary celerity with which they had made it. He therefore despatched the horsemen by troops, and the companies of light-infantry in turn, for water; after which they took refreshment. The rest he kept on guard, under arms, waiting for the main body of the infantry, which had marched with less expedition, on account of the weight of their armour. As soon as these arrived, they also were ordered to fix their standards, and, laying down their arms before them, to take food in haste; sending two, or at most three, out of each company, to provide water. In the mean time, the cavalry and light infantry stood in order, and ready, in case the enemy should make any motion. The Ætolians, as if resolved to defend their fortifications, (the multitude which had been scattered about the fields having, by this time, returned to the camp,) posted bodies of armed men at the gates, and on the rampart, and from this safe situation looked with a degree of confidence on the Edition: current; Page: [272] enemy, as long as they continued quiet. But, as soon as the troops of the Macedonians began to move, and to advance to the rampart, in order of battle, and ready for an assault, they all quickly abandoned their posts, and fled through the opposite part of the camp, to the eminence where the Athamanians were stationed. During their flight in this confusion, many of the Ætolians were slain, and many made prisoners. Philip doubted not, that, had there been day-light enough remaining, he should have been able to make himself master of the camp of the Athamanians also; but the day being spent in the fight, and in plundering the camp afterwards, he sat down under the eminence, in the adjacent plain, determined to attack the enemy at the first dawn. But the Ætolians, under the same apprehensions which had made them desert their camp, dispersed, and fled during the following night. Amynander was of the greatest service; for, by his directions, the Athamanians, who were acquainted with the roads, conducted them into Ætolia, whilst the Macedonians pursued them over the highest mountains, through unknown paths. In this disorderly flight, a few, missing their way, fell into the hands of the Macedonian horsemen, whom Philip, at the first light, on seeing the eminence abandoned, had sent to infest on their march.

XLIII. About the same time, also, Athenagoras, one of the King’s generals, overtaking the Dardanians in their retreat homeward, at first threw their rear into disorder: but these unexpectedly facing about, and forming their line, the fight became like a regular engagement. When the Dardanians began again to advance, the Macedonian cavalry and light-infantry harassed those who had no troops of that kind to aid them, and were, besides, burdened with unwieldy arms. The ground, too, favoured the assailants; very few were slain, but many wounded; none were taken, because they rarely quit their ranks, but both fight and retreat in a close body. Thus Philip, having checked the proceedings of those Edition: current; Page: [273] two nations by these well-timed expeditions, gained reparation for the damages sustained from the operations of the Romans; the enterprise being as spirited as the issue was successful. An accidental occurrence lessened the number of his enemies on the side of Ætolia. Scopas, a man of considerable influence in his own country, having been sent from Alexandria by King Ptolemy, with a great sum of gold, hired, and carried away to Egypt, six thousand foot, and some horse; nor would he have suffered one of the young Ætolians to remain at home, had not Damocritus, (it is not easy to say, whether out of zeal for the good of the nation, or out of opposition to Scopas, for not having secured his interest by presents,) by sometimes reminding them of the war with which they were threatened, at other times, of the solitary state in which their country would be left, detained some of them. Such were the actions of the Romans, and of Philip, during that summer.

XLIV. In the beginning of the same summer, the fleet under Lucius Apustius, lieutenant-general, setting sail from Corcyra, and passing by Malea, formed a junction with King Attalus, off Scyllæum, which lies in the district of Hermione. The Athenian state, which had for a long time, through fear, restrained their animosity against Philip within some bounds, assuming confidence from the support now afforded them, gave full scope to it without any reserve. There are never wanting in that city, orators, who are ready on every occasion to inflame the people; a kind of men, who, in all free states, and more particularly in that of Athens, where eloquence flourishes in the highest degree, are maintained by the favour of the multitude. These immediately proposed a decree, and the commons passed it, that “all the statues and images of Philip, with their inscriptions, and likewise those of all his ancestors of both sexes, should be removed and defaced; that the festival days, solemnities, and priests, which Edition: current; Page: [274] had been instituted in honour of him or them, should all be abolished; and that even the ground where any such statue had been set up, and inscribed with his name, should be held abominable.” And it was resolved, that, “for the future, nothing which ought to be erected or dedicated in a place of purity, should be there erected; that the public priests, as often as they should pray for the people of Athens, for their allies, armies, and fleets, so often should they utter curses and execrations against Philip, his offspring, his kingdom, his forces by sea and land, and the whole race and name of the Macedonians.” It was added to the decree, that, “if any person in future should make any proposal tending to throw disgrace and ignominy on Philip, the people of Athens would ratify it in its fullest extent: if, on the contrary, any one should, by word or deed, endeavour to lessen his ignominy, or to do him honour, that whoever slew such person should be justified in so doing.” Lastly, a clause was annexed, that “all the decrees, formerly passed against the Pisistratidæ, should be in full force against Philip.” Thus the Athenians waged war against Philip with writings and with words, in which alone their power consists.

XLV. Attalus and the Romans, having, from Hermione, proceeded first to Piræeus, and staid there a few days, after being loaded with decrees of the Athenians, (in which the honours paid to their allies were as extravagant as the expressions of their resentment against their enemy had been,) sailed to Andros, and, coming to an anchor in the harbour called Gaureleos, sent persons to sound the inclinations of the townsmen, whether they chose voluntarily to surrender, rather than run the hazard of an assault. On their answering, that they were not at their own disposal, the citadel being possessed by the King’s troops, Attalus and the Roman lieutenant-general, landing their forces, with every thing requisite for attacking towns, made their approaches to the city Edition: current; Page: [275] on different sides. The Roman ensigns and arms, which they had never seen before, together with the spirit of the soldiers, so briskly approaching the walls, were particularly terrifying to the Greeks, insomuch that they immediately fled into the citadel, leaving the city in the power of the enemy. After holding out for two days in the citadel, relying more on the strength of the place than on their arms, on the third both they and the garrison capitulated, on condition of their being transported to Delium in Bœotia, and being each of them allowed a single suit of apparel. The island was yielded up by the Romans to King Attalus; the spoil, and the ornaments of the city, they themselves carried off. Attalus, desirous that the island, of which he had got possession, might not be quite deserted, persuaded almost all the Macedonians, and several of the Andrians, to remain there: and, in some time after, those who, according to the capitulation, had been transported to Delium, were induced to return from thence by the promises made them by the King, in which they were disposed the more readily to confide, by the ardent affection which they felt for their native country. From Andros the combined army passed over to Cythnus: there they spent several days, to no purpose, in attempting to get possession of the city; when, at length, finding it scarcely worth the trouble, they departed. At Prasiæ, a place on the main land of Attica, twenty barks of the Issæans joined the Roman fleet. These were sent to ravage the lands of the Carystians, the rest of the fleet lying at Geræstus, a noted harbour in Eubœa, until their return from Carystus: on which, setting sail altogether, and steering their course through the open sea, until they passed by Scyrus, they arrived at the island Icus. Being detained there for a few days by a violent northerly wind, as soon as it abated, they passed over to Sciathus, a city which had been lately plundered and desolated by Philip. The soldiers, spreading themselves over the Edition: current; Page: [276] country, brought back to the ships corn and many other kinds of provisions. Plunder there was none, nor had the Greeks deserved to be plundered. Directing their course to Cassandrea, they first came to Mendis, a village on the coast of that state; and, intending from thence to double the promontory, and bring round the fleet to the very walls of the city, they were near being buried in the waves by a furious storm. However, after being dispersed, and a great part of the ships having lost their rigging, they escaped on shore. This storm at sea was an omen of the kind of success which they were to meet on land: for, after collecting their vessels together, and landing their forces, having made an assault on the city, they were repulsed with considerable loss, there being a strong garrison of the King’s troops in the place. Being thus obliged to retreat without accomplishing their design, they passed over to Canastrum in Pallene, and from thence, doubling the promontory of Torona, conducted the fleet to Acanthus. There they first laid waste the country, then stormed the city itself, and plundered it. They proceeded no farther, for their ships were now heavily laden with booty, but went back to Sciathus, and from Sciathus to Eubœa, whence they had first set out.

XLVI. Leaving the fleet there, they entered the Malian bay with ten light ships, in order to confer with the Ætolians on the method of conducting the war. Sipyrrhicas, the Ætolian, was at the head of the embassy that came to Heraclea, to hold a consultation with the King and the Roman lieutenant-general. They demanded of Attalus, that, in pursuance of the treaty, he should supply them with one thousand soldiers, which number he had engaged for on condition of their taking part in the war against Philip. This was refused to the Ætolians, because, on their part, they had formerly showed themselves unwilling to march out to ravage Macedonia, Edition: current; Page: [277] at a time when Philip, being employed near Pergamus in destroying by fire every thing sacred and profane, they might have compelled him to retire from thence, in order to preserve his own territories. Thus, instead of aid, the Ætolians were dismissed with hopes, the Romans making them large promises. Apustius and Attalus returned to their ships, where they began to concert measures for the siege of Oreus. This city was well secured by fortifications; and also, since the attempt formerly made on it, by a strong garrison. After the taking of Andros, the combined fleet had been joined by twenty Rhodian ships, all decked vessels, under the command of Agesimbrotus. This squadron they sent to cruise off Zelasium, a promontory of Isthmia, very conveniently situate beyond Demetrias, in order that, if the ships of the Macedonians should attempt to come out, they might be at hand to oppose them. Heraclides, the King’s admiral, kept his fleet there, rather with a view of laying hold of any advantage which the negligence of the enemy might afford him, than with a design of employing open force. The Romans and King Attalus carried on their attacks against Oreus on different sides; the Romans against the citadel next to the sea, the King’s troops against the lower part of the town, lying between the two citadels, where the city is also divided by a wall. As their posts were different, so were their methods of attack: the Romans made their approaches by means of covered galleries, some carried by men, others moving on wheels, applying also the ram to the walls; the King’s troops, by throwing in weapons with the balista, catapulta, and every other kind of engine. They cast stones also of immense weight, formed mines, and made use of every expedient, which, on trial, had been found useful in the former siege. On the other side, the Macedonian garrison, in the town and the citadels, was not only more numerous than on the former occasion, but exerted themselves with greater spirit, in consequence Edition: current; Page: [278] of the reprimands which they had received from the King for their former misconduct, and also from remembrance both of his threats and promises with regard to their future behaviour; so that there was very little hope of its being speedily taken. The lieutenant-general thought, that, in the mean time, some other business might be accomplished; wherefore, leaving such a number of men as seemed sufficient to finish the works, he passed over to the nearest part of the continent, and, arriving unexpectedly, made himself master of Larissa, except the citadel,—not that celebrated city in Thessaly, but another, which they call Cremaste. Attalus also surprised Ægeleos, where nothing was less apprehended than such an enterprise during the siege of another city. The works at Oreus had now began to take effect, while the garrison within were almost spent with unremitted toil (keeping watch both by day and night), and also with wounds. Part of the wall being loosened by the strokes of the ram, had fallen down in many places; and the Romans, during the night, broke into the citadel through the breach which lay over the harbour. Attalus, likewise, at the first light, on a signal given from the citadel by the Romans, assaulted the city on his side, where a great part of the walls had been levelled: on which the garrison and townsmen fled into the other citadel, and even that they surrendered in two days after. The city fell to the King, the prisoners to the Romans.

XLVII. The autumnal equinox now approached, and the Eubœan gulf, called Cœla, is reckoned dangerous by mariners. Choosing, therefore, to remove thence before the winter storms came on, they returned to Piræeus, from whence they had set out for the campaign. Apustius, leaving there thirty ships, sailed by Malea to Corcyra. The King was delayed during the celebration of the mysteries of Ceres, immediately after which he also retired into Asia, sending Edition: current; Page: [279] home Agesimbrotus and the Rhodians. Such, during that summer, were the proceedings, by sea and land, of the Roman consul and lieutenant-general, aided by Attalus and the Rhodians, against Philip and his allies. The other consul, Caius Aurelius, on coming into his province, and finding the war there already brought to a conclusion, did not dissemble his resentment against the prætor, for having proceeded to action in his absence: wherefore, sending him away to Etruria, he led on the legions into the enemy’s country, where their operations, having no other object than booty, produced more of it than glory. Lucius Furius, finding nothing in Etruria that could give him employment, and at the same time fired with ambition of obtaining a triumph for his success against the Gauls, which he knew would be more easily accomplished in the absence of the consul, who envied and was enraged against him, came to Rome unexpectedly, and called a meeting of the senate in the temple of Bellona; where, after making a recital of the services which he had performed, he demanded to be allowed to enter the city in triumph.

XLVIII. A great part of the senate, induced by their regard for him, and the importance of his services, showed an inclination to grant his request. The elder part refused to agree to such grant, both “because the army, with which he had acted, belonged to another; and because he had left his province through an ambitious desire of snatching that opportunity of procuring a triumph,—a conduct altogether unprecedented.” The senators of consular rank particularly insisted, that “he ought to have waited for the consul; for that he might, by pitching his camp near the city, and thereby securing the colony without coming to an engagement, have protracted the affair until his arrival; and that what the prætor had not done, the senate ought to do: they should wait for the consul. After hearing the business discussed Edition: current; Page: [280] by the consul and prætor in their presence, they would be able, on better grounds, to form a judgment on the case.” Great part were of opinion, that they ought to consider nothing but the service performed, and whether he had performed it while in office, and under his own auspices. For, “when of two colonies, which had been opposed, as barriers, to restrain the tumultuous inroads of the Gauls, one had been already sacked and burned, the flames being ready to spread (as if from an adjoining house) to the other, which lay so near, what ought the prætor to have done? If it was improper to enter on any action without the consul, then the senate had acted wrong in giving the army to the prætor; because, if they chose that the business should be performed, not under the prætor’s auspices, but the consul’s, they might have limited the decree in such a manner, that not the prætor, but the consul, should have the management of it: or else the consul had acted wrong, who, after ordering the army to remove from Etruria into Gaul, did not meet it at Ariminum, in order to be present at operations, which were not allowed to be performed without him. But the exigencies of war do not wait for the delays and procrastinations of commanders; and battles must be sometimes fought, not because commanders choose it, but because the enemy compels it. The fight itself, and the issue of the fight, is what ought to be regarded now. The enemy were routed and slain, their camp taken and plundered, the colony relieved from a siege, the prisoners taken from the other colony recovered and restored to their friends, and an end put to the war in one battle. And not only men rejoiced at this victory, but the immortal gods also had supplications paid to them, for the space of three days, on account of the business of the state having been wisely and successfully, not rashly and unfortunately, conducted by Lucius Furius, prætor. Edition: current; Page: [281] Besides the Gallic wars were, by some fatality, destined to the Furian family.”

XLIX. By means of discourses of this kind, made by him and his friends, the interest of the prætor, who was present, prevailed over the respect due to the dignity of the absent consul, and the majority decreed a triumph to Lucius Furius. Lucius Furius, prætor, during his office, triumphed over the Gauls. He carried into the treasury three hundred and twenty thousand asses,* and one hundred and seventy thousand pounds weight of silver. There were neither any prisoners led before his chariot, nor spoils carried before him, nor did any soldiers follow him. It appeared that every thing, except the victory, belonged to the consul. Publius Scipio then celebrated, in a magnificent manner, the games which he had vowed when consul in Africa; and with respect to the lands for his soldiers, it was decreed, that whatever number of years each of them had served in Spain or in Africa, he should, for every year, receive two acres; and that ten commissioners should make the distribution. Three commissioners were then appointed to fill up the number of colonists at Venusia, because the strength of that colony had been reduced in the war with Hannibal: Caius Terentius Varro, Titus Quintius Flamininus, Publius Cornelius, son of Cneius Scipio, were the commissioners who enrolled the colonists for Venusia. During the same year, Caius Cornelius Cethegus, who, in the quality of proconsul, commanded in Spain, routed a numerous army of the enemy in the territory of Sedeta; in which battle, it is said, that fifteen thousand Spaniards were slain, and seventy-eight military standards taken. The consul, Caius Aurelius, on returning from his province to Rome, to hold the elections, made heavy complaints, not on the subject on which they had supposed Edition: current; Page: [282] he would, that the senate had not waited for his coming, nor allowed him an opportunity of arguing the matter with the prætor; but, that “the senate had decreed a triumph in such a manner, without hearing the report of any one of those who were present at the operations of the war, except the person who was to enjoy the triumph: that their ancestors had made it a rule that the lieutenant-generals, the military tribunes, the centurions, and even the soldiers, should be present at the same, for this reason, that the reality of his exploits, to whom so high an honour was paid, might be publicly ascertained. Now, of that army which fought with the Gauls, had any one soldier, or even a soldier’s servant, been present, of whom the senate could inquire concerning the truth or falsehood of the prætor’s narrative?” He then appointed a day for the elections, at which were chosen consuls, Lucius Cornelius Lentulus and Publius Villius Tappulus. The prætors were then appointed, Lucius Quintius Flamininus, Lucius Valerius Flaccus, Lucius Villius Tappulus, and Cneius Bæbius Tamphilus.

L. During that year, provisions were remarkably cheap. The curule ædiles, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, and Sextus Ælius Pætus, distributed among the people a vast quantity of corn, brought from Africa, at the rate of two asses a peck. They also celebrated the Roman games in a magnificent manner, repeating them a second day; and erected in the treasury five brazen statues out of the money paid as fines. The plebeian games were thrice repeated entire, by the ædiles, Lucius Terentius Massa, and Cneius Bæbius Tamphilus, who was elected prætor. There were also funeral games exhibited that year in the Forum, for the space of four days, on occasion of the death of Marcus Valerius Lævinus, by his sons Publius and Marcus, who gave also a show of gladiators, in which twenty-five pairs fought. Marcus Aurelius Cotta, one of the ten commissioners for keeping Edition: current; Page: [283] the books of the Sibyl, died, and Manius Acilius Glabrio was substituted in his room. It happened that both the curule ædiles, lately chosen, were persons who could not immediately undertake the office: for Caius Cornelius Cethegus was absent when he was elected, being then commander in Spain; and Caius Valerius Flaccus, who was present, being flamen Dialis, could not take the oath of observing the laws; and no person was allowed to hold any office longer than five days without taking the oath. Flaccus petitioned to be excused from complying with the law, on which the senate decreed, that if the ædile produced a person approved of by the connuls, who would take the oath for him, the consuls, if they thought proper, should make application to the tribunes, that it might be proposed to the people. Lucius Valerius Flaccus, prætor elect, was produced to swear for his brother. The tribunes proposed to the commons, and the commons ordered, that this should be as effectual as if the ædile himself had sworn. With regard to the other ædile, likewise, an order of the commons was made. On the tribunes putting the question, what two persons they chose should go and take the command of the armies in Spain, in order that Caius Cornelius, curule ædile, might come home to execute his office, and that Lucius Manlius Acidinus might leave that province, where he had continued many years; the commons ordered Cneius Cornelius Lentulus, and Lucius Stertinius, proconsuls, to command in Spain.

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BOOK XXXII.

Successes of Titus Quintius Flamininus against Philip: and of his brother Lucius, with the fleet, assisted by Attalus and the Rhodians. Treaty of friendship with the Achæans. Conspiracy of the slaves discovered, and suppressed. The number of the prætors augmented to six. Defeat of the Insubrian Gauls by Cornelius Cethegus. Treaty of friendship with Nabis, tyrant of Lacedæmon. Capture of several cities in Macedonia.

Y.R.553. bc199.I. The consuls and prætors entering into office on the ides of March cast lots for the provinces. Italy fell to Lucius Cornelius Lentulus, Macedonia to Publius Villius. Of the prætors, the city jurisdiction fell to Lucius Quinctius, Ariminum to Cneius Bæbius, Sicily to Lucius Valerius, Sardinia to Lucius Villius. The consul, Lentulus, was ordered to levy new legions; Villius to receive the army from Publius Sulpicius; and, to complete its number, power was given him to raise as many men as he thought proper. To the prætor Bæbius were decreed the legions, which Caius Aurelius, late consul, had commanded, with directions that he should keep them in their present situation, until the consul should come with the new army to supply Edition: current; Page: [285] their place; and that, on his arriving in Gaul, all the soldiers who had served out their time should be sent home, except five thousand of the allies, which would be sufficient to protect the province round Ariminum. The command was continued to the prætors of the former year; to Cneius Sergius, that he might superintend the distribution of land to the soldiers, who had served for many years in Spain, Sicily and Sardinia; to Quintus Minucius, that he might finish the inquiries concerning the conspiracies in Bruttium, which, while prætor, he had managed with care and fidelity. That he should also send to Locri, to suffer punishment, those who had been convicted of sacrilege, and who were then in chains at Rome; taking care, at the same time, that whatever had been carried away from the temple of Proserpine should be replaced, and proper atonement made. The Latine festival was repeated in pursuance of a decree of the pontiffs, because ambassadors from Ardea had complained to the senate, that, during the said solemnity they had not been supplied with meat as usual. From Suessa an account was brought, that two of the gates, and the wall between them, were struck with lightning. Messengers from Formiæ related, that the temple of Jupiter was also struck by lightning; from Ostia, likewise, news came of the like accident having happened to the temple of Jupiter there; it was said, too, that the temples of Apollo and Sancus, at Veliternum, were struck in like manner, and that in the temple of Hercules, hair grew on the statue. A letter was received from Quintus Minucius, proprætor, from Bruttium, that a foal had been born with five feet, and three chickens with three feet each. Afterwards a letter was brought from Macedonia, from Publius Sulpicius, proconsul, in which, among other matters, it was mentioned, that a laurel tree had sprung up on the poop of a ship of war. On occasion of the former prodigies, the senate had voted, that the consuls should offer sacrifices, with the greater victims, Edition: current; Page: [286] to such gods as they thought proper. On account of the last prodigy, alone, the aruspices were called before the senate, and, in pursuance of their answer, the people were ordered by proclamation to perform a supplication for one day, and worship was solemnized at all the shrines.

II. This year, the Carthaginians brought to Rome the first payment of the silver, imposed on them as a tribute; and the quæstors having reported, that it was not of the proper standard, and that, on the assay, it wanted a fourth part, they borrowed money at Rome, and made up the deficiency. On their requesting that the senate would be pleased to order their hostages to be restored to them, a hundred were given up, with assurances in regard to the rest, if they continued to observe the treaty. They then farther requested, that the remaining hostages might be removed from Norba, where they were ill accommodated, to some other place, and they were permitted to remove to Signia and Terentinum. The request of the people of Gades was likewise complied with: that a governor should not be sent to their city; being contrary to their stipulation with Lucius Marcius Septimus, when they came under the protection of the Roman people. Deputies from Narnia complaining, that they had not their due number of settlers, and that several who were not of their community, had crept in among them, and assumed the privileges of colonists, Lucius Cornelius, consul, was ordere to appoint three commissioners to adjust those matters. The three appointed were Publius and Sextus Ælius, both surnamed Pætus; and Gaius Cornelius Lentulus. The favour granted to the Narnians, of filling up their number of colonists, was refused to the people of Cossa, who applied for it.

III. The consuls, having finished the business that was to be done at Rome, set out for their provinces. Publius Villius, on coming into Macedonia, found the soldiers in a violent Edition: current; Page: [287] mutiny, signs of which had appeared some time before. There were two thousand concerned in it. These troops, after Hannibal was vanquished, had been transported from Africa to Sicily, and in about a year after, into Macedonia, as volunteers; they denied, however, that this was done with their consent, affirming, that “they had been put on board the ships, by the tribunes, contrary to their remonstrances; but, in what manner soever they had become engaged in that service, whether by compulsion or not, the time of it was now expired, and it was reasonable that some end should be put to their toils. For many years they had not seen Italy, but had grown old under arms in Sicily, Africa, and Macedonia; they were now, in short, worn out with labour and fatigue, and had lost the best part of their blood by the many wounds which they had received.” The consul told them, that “the grounds on which they demanded their discharge, appeared to him to be reasonable, if the demand had been made in a moderate manner; but that neither on that, nor on any other grounds, could mutiny ever be justified. Wherefore, if they were contented to adhere to their standards, and obey orders, he would write to the senate concerning their release; and that what they desired would more easily be obtained by modest behaviour than by turbulence.”

IV. At this time, Philip was pushing on the siege of Thaumaci, with the utmost vigour, by means of mounds and engines, and was ready to bring up the ram to the walls, when he was obliged to relinquish the undertaking by the sudden arrival of the Ætolians, who, under the command of Archidamus, having made their way into the town between the posts of the Macedonians, never ceased, day or night, making continual sallies, sometimes against the guards, sometimes against the works. They were at the same time favoured by the nature of the place: for Thaumaci stands near the Edition: current; Page: [288] road from Thermopylæ, and the Malian bay, through Lamia, on a lofty eminence, hanging immediately over the narrow pass called Cæle.* After passing through the craggy grounds of Thessaly, the roads are rendered intricate by the windings of the valleys, and on the near approach to the city, such an immense plain opens at once to view, like a vast sea, that the eye can scarcely reach the bounds of the expanse beneath. From this surprising prospect it was called Thaumaci.† The city itself is secured, not only by the height of its situation, but by its standing on a rock, from the sides of which, all round, the projecting parts had been pared off. In consequence of these difficulties, and the prize not appearing sufficient to recompense so much toil and danger, Philip desisted from the attempt. The winter also was approaching; he therefore retired from thence, and led back his troops into winter-quarters, in Macedonia.

V. There, whilst others, glad of any interval of rest, consigned both body and mind to repose, Philip, in proportion as the season of the year had relieved him from the incessant fatigues of marching and fighting, found his care and anxiety increase the more, when he turned his thoughts towards the general issue of the war. He dreaded, not only his enemies, who pressed him hard by land and sea, but also the dispositions, sometimes of his allies, at others of his own subjects. The former, he thought, might be induced, by hopes of friendship with the Romans, to change sides, and the Macedonians themselves be seized with a desire of innovation. Wherefore, he despatched ambassadors to the Achæans, both to require their oath, (for it had been made an article of their agreement that they should take an oath of fidelity to Philip every year,) and at the same time to restore to them Orchomenos, Heræa, and Triphylia. To the Megalopolitans, Edition: current; Page: [289] he delivered up Aliphera; which city, they insisted, had never belonged to Triphylia, but ought to be restored to them, having been one of those that were incorporated by the council of the Arcadians for the founding of Megalopolis. These measures had the desired effect of strengthening his connection with the Achæans. The affections of the Macedonians he conciliated by his treatment of Heraclides: for finding that, from having countenanced this man, he had incurred the general displeasure of his subjects, he charged him with a number of crimes, and threw him into chains, to the great joy of the people. In his preparations for war, he exerted the most vigorous efforts; exercised both the Macedonian and mercenary troops in arms, and, in the beginning of spring, sent Athenagoras, with all the foreign auxiliaries and light troops, through Epirus into Chaonia, to seize the pass at Antigonia, which the Greeks call Stena. He followed, in a few days, with the heavy troops; and, having viewed every situation in the country, he judged that the most advantageous post for fortifying himself was on the river Aous. This river runs in a narrow vale, between two mountains, one of which the natives call the river Asnaus, affording a passage of very little breadth along the bank. He ordered Athenagoras, with the light infantry, to take possession of Asnaus, and to fortify it. His own camp he pitched on Æropus. Those places, where the rocks were steep, were defended by guards of a few soldiers only; the less secure he strengthened, some with trenches, some with ramparts, and others with towers. A great number of engines, also, were disposed in proper places, that, by means of weapons thrown from these, they might keep the enemy at a distance. The royal pavilion was pitched on the outside of the rampart, on the most conspicuous eminence, in order, by this show of confidence, to dishearten the foe, and raise the hopes of his own men.

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VI. The consul received intelligence from Charopus of Epirus, that the King, with his army, had posted himself in this pass. As soon, therefore, as the spring began to open, he left Corcyra, where he had passed the winter, and, sailing over to the continent, led on his army. When he came within about five miles of the King’s camp, leaving the legions in a strong post, he went forward in person with some light troops, to view the nature of the country; and on the day following, held a council, in order to determine whether he should, notwithstanding the great labour and danger to be encountered, attempt a passage through the defiles occupied by the enemy, or lead round his forces by the same road through which Sulpicius had penetrated into Macedonia the year before. The deliberations on this question had lasted several days, when news arrived, that Titus Quintius had been elected consul; that he had obtained, by lot, Macedonia, as his province; and that, hastening his journey, he had already come over to Corcyra. Valerius Antias says, that Villius marched into the defile, and that, as he could not proceed straight forward, because every pass was occupied by the King, he followed the course of a valley, through the middle of which the river Aous flows, and having hastily constructed a bridge, passed over to the bank, where the King lay, and fought a battle with him: that the King was routed and driven out of his camp; that twelve thousand Macedonians were killed, and two thousand two hundred taken, together with a hundred and thirty-two military standards, and two hundred and thirty horses. He adds, that, during the battle, a temple was vowed to Jupiter in case of success. The other historians, both Greek and Latin, (all those at least whose accounts I have read,) affirm, that nothing memorable was done by Villius, and that Titus Quintius the consul, who succeeded him, found that no progress whatever had been made in the business of the war.

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VII. During the time of these transactions in Macedonia, the other consul, Lucius Lentulus, who had staid at Rome, held an assembly for the election of censors. Out of many illustrious men who stood candidates, were chosen Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus and Publius Ælius Pætus. These, acting together with the most perfect harmony, read the list of the senate, without passing a censure on any one member; they also let to farm the port-duties at Capua, and those at the fort of Puteoli, situate where the city now stands; enrolling for this latter place three hundred colonists, that being the number fixed by the senate; they also sold the lands of Capua, which lie at the foot of Mount Tifata. About the same time, Lucius Manlius Acidinus, on his return from Spain, was hindered from entering the city in ovation by Marcus Portius Læca, plebeian tribune, notwithstanding he had obtained permission of the senate: coming, then, into the city, in a private character, he conveyed to the treasury one thousand two hundred pounds weight of silver, and about thirty pounds weight of gold. During this year, Cneius Bæbius Tamphilus, who had succeeded to the government of the province of Gaul, in the room of Caius Aurelius, consul of the year preceding, having, without proper caution, entered the territories of the Insubrian Gauls, was, with almost the whole of his army, attacked at disadvantage and overthrown. He lost above six thousand six hundred men,—a severe blow from an enemy who had for some time ceased to be considered as being formidable. This event called away the consul, Lucius Lentulus, from the city; who, arriving in the province, which was in general confusion, and taking the command of the army, which he found dispirited by its defeat, severely reprimanded the prætor, and ordered him to quit the province, and return to Rome. Neither did the consul himself perform any considerable Edition: current; Page: [292] service, being called home to preside at the elections, which were obstructed by Marcus Fulvius and Manius Curius, plebeian tribunes, who wished to hinder Titus Quintius Flamininus from standing candidate for the consulship, after passing through the office of quæstor. They alleged, that “the ædileship and prætorship were now held in contempt, and that the nobility did not make their way to the consulship through the regular gradations of offices; but, passing over the intermediate steps, pushed at once from the lowest to the highest.” From a dispute in the Field of Mars, the affair was brought before the senate, where it was voted, “that when a person sued for any post, which by the laws he was permitted to hold, the people had the right of choosing whoever they thought proper.” To this decision of the senate, the tribunes submitted, and thereupon Sextus Ælius Pætus and Titus Quintius Flamininus were elected. Then was held the election of prætors. The persons chosen were Lucius Cornelius Merula, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, Marcus Porcius Cato, and Caius Helvius, who had been plebeian ædiles. These repeated the plebeian games, and, on occasion of the games, celebrated a feast of Jupiter. The curule ædiles also, Caius Valerius Flaccus, who was flamen of Jupiter, and Caius Cornelius Cethegus, celebrated the Roman games with great magnificence. Servius and Caius Sulpicius Galba, pontiffs, died this year; in their room, in the college, were substituted Marcus Æmilius Lepidus and Cneius Cornelius Scipio.

Y.R.554. bc198.VIII. The new consuls, Sextus Ælius Pætus and Titus Quintius Flamininus, on assuming the administration, convened the senate in the Capitol and the Fathers decreed, that “the consuls should settle between themselves, or cast lots for the provinces, Macedonia and Italy. That he to whom Macedonia fell should enlist, as a supplement to the legions, three thousand Roman Edition: current; Page: [293] footmen, and three hundred horse, and also five thousand footmen, and five hundred horsemen of the Latine confederates.” The army assigned to the other consul, was to consist entirely of new-raised men. Lucius Lentulus, consul of the preceding year, was continued in command, and was ordered not to depart from the province, nor to remove the old army, until the consul should arrive with the new legions. The consuls cast lots for the provinces, and Italy fell to Ælius, Macedonia to Quintius. Of the prætors, the lots gave to Lucius Cornelius Merula the city jurisdiction; to Marcus Claudius, Sicily; to Marcus Porcius, Sardinia; and to Caius Helvius, Gaul. The levying of troops was then begun, for, besides the consular armies, they had been ordered also to enlist men for the prætors: for Marcellus, in Sicily, four thousand foot and three hundred horse of the Latine confederates; for Cato, in Sardinia, three thousand foot and two hundred horse of the same country; with directions, that both these prætors, on their arrival in their provinces, should disband the veterans, both foot and horse. The consuls then introduced to the senate ambassadors from King Attalus. These, after representing that their King gave every assistance to the Roman arms on land and sea, with his fleet and all his forces, and had hitherto executed, with zeal and alacrity, every order of the consuls, added, that “they feared it would not be in his power to continue so to do, as he was much embarrassed by Antiochus, who had invaded his kingdom, when the sea and land forces, which might have defended it, were removed to a distance. That Attalus, therefore, entreated the Conscript Fathers, if they chose to employ his army and navy in the Macedonian war, then to send a body of forces to protect his territories; or if that were not agreeable, to allow him to go home for that purpose, with his fleet and troops.” The following answer was ordered to be given to the ambassadors: that “the senate retained a due sense of Edition: current; Page: [294] Attalus’s friendship in aiding the Roman commanders with his fleet and other forces. That they would neither send succours to Attalus, against Antiochus, the ally and friend of the Roman people; nor would they detain the troops, which he had sent to their assistance, to his inconvenience. That it was ever a constant rule with the Roman people, to use the aid of others, so far only, as was agreeable to the will of those who gave it; and even to leave those who were so inclined, at full liberty to determine, when that assistance should commence, and when it should cease. That they would send ambassadors to Antiochus; to represent to him, that Attalus, with his fleet and army, were, at the present, employed by the Roman people, against Philip their common enemy; and that they would request Antiochus, to leave the dominions of Attalus unmolested, and to refrain from all hostilities; for that it was much to be wished, that kings, who were allies and friends to the Roman people, should maintain friendship between themselves also.”

IX. When the consul Titus Quintius had finished the levies, in making which he chose principally such as had served in Spain or Africa, that is, soldiers of approved courage, and when hastening to set forward to his province, he was delayed by reports of prodigies, and the expiations of them necessary to be performed. There had been struck by lightning the public road at Veii, a temple of Jupiter at Lanuvium, a temple of Hercules at Ardea, with a wall and towers at Capua, also the edifice which is called Alba. At Arretium, the sky appeared as on fire; at Velitræ, the earth, to the extent of three acres, sunk down, so as to form a vast chasm. From Suessa Aurunca, an account was brought of a lamb born with two heads; from Sinuessa, of a swine with a human head. On occasion of these ill omens, a supplication of one day’s continuance was performed; the consuls employed themselves diligently in the worship of the gods, and as soon Edition: current; Page: [295] as these were appeased, set out for their provinces. Ælius, accompanied by Caius Helvius, prætor, went into Gaul, where he put under the command of the prætor the army which he received from Lucius Lentulus and which he ought to have disbanded, intending to carry on his own operations with the new troops, which he had brought with him; but he effected nothing worth recording. The other consul, Titus Quintius, setting sail from Brundusium earlier than had been usual with former consuls, reached Corcyra, with eight thousand foot and eight hundred horse. From this place, he passed over, in a quinquereme, to the nearest part of Epirus, and proceeded, by long journies, to the Roman camp. Here he dismissed Villius; and waiting a few days, until the forces from Corcyra should come up and join him, held a council, to determine whether he should endeavour to force his way straight forward through the camp of the enemy; or whether, without attempting an enterprise of so great difficulty and danger, he should not rather take a circuitous and safe road, so as to penetrate into Macedonia by the country of the Dassaretians and Lycus. The latter plan would have been adopted, had he not feared that, in removing to a greater distance from the sea, the enemy might slip out of his hands; and that if the King should resolve to secure himself in the woods and wilds, as he had done before, the summer might be spun out without any thing being effected. It was therefore determined, be the event what it might, to attack the enemy in their present post, disadvantageous as it would seem to an assailant. But it was easier to resolve on this measure, than to devise any safe or certain method of accomplishing it.

X. Forty days were passed in view of the enemy, without making any kind of effort. Hence Philip conceived hopes of bringing about a treaty of peace, through the mediation of the people of Epirus; and a council, which was held for the Edition: current; Page: [296] purpose, having appointed Pausanias the prætor, and Alexander the master of the horse, as negotiators, they brought the consul and the King to a conference, on the banks of the river Aous, where the channel was narrowest. The sum of the consul’s demands was, that the King should withdraw his troops from the territories of the several states; that to those, whose lands and cities he had plundered, he should restore such of their effects as could be found; and that the value of the rest should be estimated by a fair arbitration. Philip answered, that “the cases of the several states differed widely from each other. That such as he himself had seized on, he would set at liberty; but he would not divest himself of the hereditary and just possessions which had been conveyed down to him from his ancestors. If those, with whom hostilities had been carried on, complained of any losses in the war, he was ready to submit the matter to the arbitration of any state with whom both parties were at peace.” To this the consul replied, that “the business required neither judge nor arbitrator: for who did not see clearly that every injurious consequence of the war was to be imputed to the first aggressor? And in this case Philip, unprovoked by any, had first commenced hostilities against all.” When they next began to treat of those nations which were to be set at liberty, the consul named, first, the Thessalians: on which the King indignantly exclaimed,—“What harsher terms, Titus Quintius, could you impose on me, if I were vanquished?” With these words he retired hastily from the conference, and they were prevented only by the river which separated them, from assaulting each other with missile weapons. On the following day many skirmishes took place between parties sallying from the outposts, in a plain sufficiently wide for the purpose. Afterwards the King’s troops drew back into narrow and rocky places, whither the Romans, keenly eager for fighting, penetrated also. These had in their favour order and military Edition: current; Page: [297] discipline, while their arms were of a kind well calculated for pressing close on the Macedonians, who had, indeed, the advantage of ground, with balistas and catapultas disposed on almost every rock as on walls. After many wounds given and received on both sides, and numbers being slain, as in a regular engagement, darkness put an end to the fight.

XL. While matters were in this state, a herdsman, sent by Charopus, prince of the Epirots, was brought to the consul. He said, that “being accustomed to feed his herd in the forest, then occupied by the King’s camp, he knew every winding and path in the neighbouring mountains; and that, if the consul thought proper to send some troops with him, he would lead them by a road, neither dangerous nor difficult, to a spot over the enemy’s head.” Charopus sent a message to the Roman, to give just so much credit to this man’s account, as should still leave every thing in his own power, and as little as possible in that of the other. Though the consul rather wished than dared to give the intelligence full belief, and though his emotions of joy were strongly checked by fear, yet being moved by the confidence due to Charopus, he resolved to put to trial the favourable offer. In order to prevent all suspicion of the matter, during the two following days he carried on attacks against the enemy without intermission, drawing out troops against them in every quarter, and sending up fresh men to relieve the wearied. Then, selecting four thousand foot and three hundred horse, he put them under the command of a military tribune, with directions to advance the horse as far as the nature of the ground allowed; and when they came to places impassable to cavalry, then to post them in some plain; that the infantry should proceed by the road which the guide would show, and that when, according to his promise, they arrived on the height over the enemy’s head, then they should give a signal by smoke, but raise no shout, until the tribune should have reason Edition: current; Page: [298] to think that, in consequence of the signal received from him, the battle was begun. He ordered that the troops should march by night (the moon shining through the whole of it), and employ the day in taking food and rest. The most liberal promises were made to the guide, provided he fulfilled his engagement; he bound him nevertheless, and delivered him to the tribune. Having thus sent off this detachment, the Roman general exerted redoubled vigour in every part to make himself master of the posts of the enemy.

XII. On the third day, the Roman party made the signal by smoke, to notify that they had gained possession of the eminence to which they had been directed; and then the consul, dividing his forces into three parts, marched up with the main strength of his army, through a valley in the middle, and made the wings on right and left advance to the camp of the enemy. Nor did these betray any want of spirit, but came out briskly to meet him. The Roman soldiers, in the ardour of their courage, long maintained the fight on the outside of their works, for they had no small superiority in bravery, in skill, and in the nature of their arms: but when the King’s troops, after many of them were wounded and slain, retreated into places secured either by intrenchments or situation, the danger reverted on the Romans, who pushed forward, inconsiderately, into disadvantageous grounds and defiles, out of which a retreat was difficult. Nor would they have extricated themselves without suffering for their rashness, had not the Macedonians, first, by a shout heard on their rear, and then by an attack begun on that quarter, been utterly dismayed and confounded at the unthought-of danger. Some betook themselves to a hasty flight: some keeping their stand, rather because they could find no way for flight, than that they possessed spirit to support the engagement, were cut off by the Romans, who pressed them hard both on front and rear. Their army might have been entirely Edition: current; Page: [299] destroyed, had the victors continued their pursuit of the fugitives; but the cavalry were obstructed by the narrowness of the passes and the ruggedness of the ground; and the infantry, by the weight of their armour. The King at first fled with precipitation, without looking behind him; but afterwards when he had proceeded as far as five miles, he began from recollecting the unevenness of the road, to suspect, (what was really the case,) that the enemy could not follow him; and halting, he despatched his attendants through all the hills and valleys to collect the stragglers together. His loss was not more than two thousand men. The rest of his army coming to one spot, as if they had followed some signal, marched off, in a compact body, toward Thessaly. The Romans, after having pursued the enemy as far as they could with safety, killing such as they overtook, and despoiling the slain, seized and plundered the King’s camp; to which, even when there were no troops to oppose them, they could not easily make their way. The following night they were lodged within their own trenches.

XIII. Next day, the consul pursued the enemy through the same defiles, following the course of the river as it winds through the valleys. The King came first to the Camp of Pyrrhus, a place so called in Triphylia, a district of Melotis; and on the following day, by a very long march, his fears urging him on, he reached Mount Lingos. This ridge of mountains belongs to Epirus, and stretches along between Macedonia and Thessaly; the side next to Thessaly faces the east, that next to Macedonia the north. These hills are thickly clad with woods, and on their summits have open plains and springs of water. Here Philip remained encamped for several days, being unable to determine whether he should continue his retreat, until he arrived in his own dominions, or whether he might venture back into Thessaly. At length, he resolved to direct his route into Thessaly; and, Edition: current; Page: [300] going by the shortest roads to Tricca, he made hasty excursions from thence, to all the cities within his reach. The inhabitants who were able to accompany him, he carried away from their habitations, and burned the towns, allowing the owners to take with them such of their effects as they were able to carry; the rest became the prey of the soldiers; nor was there any kind of cruelty which they could have suffered from an enemy, that they did not suffer from these their confederates. The infliction of such hardships was irksome to Philip, even while he authorised it; but as the country was soon to become the property of the foe, he wished to rescue out of it their persons at least. In this manner were ravaged the towns of Phacium, Iresia, Euhydrium, Eretria, and Palæphatus. On his coming to Pheræ, the gates were shut against him, and as it would necessarily occasion a considerable delay, if he attempted to take it by force, and as he could not spare time, he dropped the design, and crossed over the mountains into Macedonia: for he had received intelligence, that the Ætolians too were marching towards him. These, on hearing of the battle fought on the banks of the river Aous, first laid waste the nearest tracts round Sperchia, and Long Come, as it is called, and then, passing over into Thessaly, got possession of Cymine and Angea at the first assault. From Metropolis, they were repulsed by the inhabitants, who, while a part of their army was plundering the country, assembled in a body to defend the city. Afterwards, making an attempt on Callithere, they were attacked by the townsmen in a like manner; but withstood their onset with more steadiness, drove back into the town the party which had sallied, and content with that success, as they had scarcely any prospect of taking the place by storm, retired. They then took by assault and sacked the towns of Theuma and Calathas. Achorræ, they gained by surrender. Xyniæ, through similar apprehensions, was abandoned by the inhabitants. Edition: current; Page: [301] These, having forsaken their homes, and going together in a body, fell in with a party of Athamanians employed in protecting their foragers; all of whom, an irregular and unarmed multitude, incapable of any resistance, were put to the sword by the troops. The deserted town of Xyniæ was plundered. The Ætolians then took Cyphara, a fort conveniently situated on the confines of Dolopia. All this the Ætolians performed within the space of a few days.

XIV. Amynander and the Athamanians, when they heard of the victory obtained by the Romans, continued not inactive. Amynander, having little confidence in his own troops, requested aid from the consul; and then advancing towards Gomphi, he stormed on his march a place called Pheca, situate between that town and the narrow pass which separates Thessaly from Athamania. He then attacked Gomphi, and though the inhabitants defended it for several days with the utmost vigour, yet, as soon as he had raised the scaling-laders to the walls, the same apprehensions which had operated on others, made them capitulate. This capture of Gomphi spread the greatest consternation among the Thessalians: their fortresses of Argenta, Pherinus, Thimarus, Lisinæ, Stimon, and Lampsus, surrendered, one after another, with several other garrisons equally inconsiderable. While the Athamanians and Ætolians, delivered from fear of the Macedonians, converted to their own profit the fruits of another’s victory; and Thessaly, ravaged by three armies at once, knew not which to believe its foe or its friend; the consul marched on, through the pass which the enemy’s flight had left open, into the country of Epirus. Though he well knew which party the Epirots, excepting their prince Charopus, were disposed to favour, yet as he saw, that even from the motive of atoning for past behaviour, they obeyed his orders with diligence, he regulated his treatment of them by the standard of their present rather than of their former temper, Edition: current; Page: [302] and by this readiness to pardon, conciliated their affection for the future. Then, sending orders to Corcyra, for the transport ships to come into the Ambracian bay, he advanced by moderate marches, and on the fourth day pitched his camp on Mount Cercetius. Hither he ordered Amynander to come with his auxiliary troops; not so much because he wanted such addition of his forces, as with design to use them as guides into Thessaly. With the same purpose, many volunteers of the Epirots, also, were admitted into the corps of auxiliaries.

XV. Of the cities of Thessaly, the first which he attacked, was Phaleria. The garrison here consisted of two thousand Macedonians, who made at first a most vigorous resistance, availing themselves, to the utmost, of every advantage that their arms and works could afford. The assault was carried on, without intermission or relaxation, either by day or by night, because the consul thought that it would have a powerful effect on the spirits of the rest of the Thessalians, if the first who made trial of the Roman strength were unable to withstand it; and this at the same time subdued the obstinacy of the Macedonians. On the reduction of Phaleria, deputies came from Metropolis and Piera, surrendering those cities. To them, on their petition, pardon was granted: Phaleria was sacked, and burned. He then proceeded to Æginium; but finding this place so circumstanced, that, even with a moderate garrison, it was safe; after discharging a few weapons against the nearest advanced guard, he directed his march towards the territory of Gomphi; and thence, into the plains of Thessaly. His army was now in want of every thing, because he had spared the lands of the Epirots; he therefore despatched messengers to learn whether the transports had reached Leucas and the Ambracian bay; sending the cohorts, in turn, to Ambracia for corn. Now the road from Gomphi to Ambracia, although difficult and embarrassed, is very Edition: current; Page: [303] short: so that in a few days provisions were brought up from the sea in abundance. He then marched to Atrax, which is about ten miles from Larissa, on the river Peneus. The inhabitants came originally from Perrhæbia. The Thessalians, here, were not in the least alarmed at the first coming of the Romans; and Philip, although he durst not himself advance into Thessaly, yet, keeping his station in the vale of Tempe, whenever any place was attempted by the enemy, he sent up reinforcements as occasioned required.

XVI. About the time that Quintius first pitched his camp opposite to Philip’s, and at the entrance of Epirus; Lucius, the consul’s brother, whom the senate had commissioned both to the naval command and to the government of the coast, sailed over with two quinqueremes to Corcyra; and when he learned that the fleet had departed thence, thinking any delay improper, he followed, and overtook it at the island of Zama. Here he dismissed Lucius Apustius, in whose room he had been appointed, and then proceeded to Malea, but at a slow rate, being obliged, for the most part, to tow the vessels which accompanied him with provisions. From Malea, after ordering the rest to follow with all possible expedition, himself, with three light quinqueremes, hastened forward to the Piræeus, and took under his command the ships left there by Lucius Apustius, lieutenant-general, for the protection of Athens. At the same time, two fleets set sail from Asia; one of twenty-four quinqueremes, under King Attalus; the other belonging to the Rhodians, consisting of twenty decked ships, and commanded by Agesimbrotus. These fleets, joining near the island of Andros, sailed for Eubœa, to reach which place they had only to cross a narrow channel. They first ravaged the lands belonging to Carystus; but, judging that city too strong, in consequence of a reinforcement hastily sent from Chalcis, they bent their course to Eretria. Lucius Quintius also, on hearing of the arrival of King Attalus, came Edition: current; Page: [304] thither with the ships which had lain at the Piræeus; having left orders, that his own ships should, as they arrived, follow him to Eubœa. The siege of Eretria was now pushed forward with the utmost vigour; for the three combined fleets carried machines and engines, of all sorts, for the demolition of towns, and the adjacent country offered abundance of timber for the construction of new works. At the beginning the townsmen defended themselves with a good degree of spirit; afterwards, when they felt the effects of fatigue, a great many being likewise wounded, and a part of the wall demolished by the enemy’s works, they became disposed to capitulate. But they had a garrison of Macedonians, of whom they stood in no less dread than of the Romans; and Philocles, the King’s general, sent frequent messages from Chalcis, that he would bring them succour in due time, if they could hold out the siege. The hope of this, in conjunction with their fears, obliged them to protract the time longer than was consistent either with their wishes or their strength. However, having learned soon after, that Philocles had been repulsed in the attempt, and forced to fly back, in disorder, to Chalcis, they instantly sent deputies to Attalus, to beg pardon and protection. While intent on the prospect of peace, they remitted their diligence in the duties of war, and kept armed guards in that quarter only, where the breach had been made in the wall, neglecting all the rest; Quintius made an assault by night on the side where it was least apprehended, and carried the town by scalade. The townsmen, with their wives and children, fled into the citadel, but soon after surrendered themselves prisoners. The quantity of money, of gold, and silver, taken, was not great. Of statues and pictures, the works of ancient artists, and other ornaments of that kind, a greater number was found than could be expected, either from the size of the city, or its opulence in other particulars.

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XVII. The design on Carystus was then resumed, and the fleets sailed thither; on which the whole body of the inhabitants, before the troops were disembarked, deserted the city, and fled into the citadel, whence they sent deputies to beg protection from the Roman general. To the townspeople life and liberty were immediately granted; and it was ordered, that the Macedonians should pay a ransom of three hundred drachmas* a head, deliver up their arms, and quit the country. After being thus ransomed, they were transported, unarmed, to Bœotia. The combined fleets having, in the space of a few days, taken these two important cities of Eubœa, sailed round Sunium, a promontory of Attica, and steered their course to Cenchreæ, the grand mart of the Corinthians. In the mean time, the consul found the siege of Atrax more tedious than he had imagined, the enemy making an unexpected resistance. He had supposed that the whole of the trouble would be in demolishing the wall, and that if he could once open a passage for his soldiers into the city, the consequence would then be, the flight and slaughter of the enemy, as usually happens on the capture of towns. But when, on a breach being made in the wall by the rams, and when the soldiers, by mounting over the ruins, had entered the place, this proved only the beginning, as it were, of an unusual and fresh labour. For the Macedonians in garrison, who were both chosen men and many in number, supposing that they would be entitled to extraordinary honour if they should maintain the defence of the city by means of arms and courage, rather than by the help of walls, formed themselves in a compact body, strengthening their line by an uncommon number of files in depth. These, when they saw the Romans entering by the breaches, drove them back, so that they were entangled among the rubbish, and with difficulty could effect Edition: current; Page: [306] a retreat. This gave the consul great uneasiness; for he considered such a disgrace, not merely as it retarded the reduction of a single city, but as likely to affect materially the whole process of the war, which in general depends much on the influence of events in themselves unimportant. Having therefore cleared the ground about the half ruined wall, he brought up a tower of extraordinary height, consisting of many stories, and which carried a great number of soldiers. He likewise sent up the cohorts in strong bodies, one after another, to force their way, if possible, through the wedge of the Macedonians, which is called a phalanx. But in such a confined space, (for the wall was thrown down to no great extent,) the enemy had the advantage, both in the kind of weapons which they used, and in the manner of fighting. When the Macedonians, in close array, stretched out before them their long spears against the target fence, and which was formed by the close position of their antagonists’ shields, and when the Romans, after discharging their javelins without effect, drew their swords, these could neither press on to a closer combat, nor cut off the heads of the spears; and if they did cut or break off any, the shaft being sharp at the part where it was broken, filled up its place among the points of those which were unbroken, in a kind of palisade. Besides this, the parts of the wall still standing covered safely the flanks of the Macedonians, who were not obliged, either in retreating or in advancing to an attack, to pass through a long space, which generally occasions disorder in the ranks. An accidental circumstance also helped to confirm their courage: for as the tower was moved along a bank not sufficiently compacted, one of the wheels sinking into a rut, made the tower lean in such a manner that it appeared to the enemy as if falling, and threw the soldiers posted on it into consternation and affright.

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XVIII. As none of his attempts met any success, the consul was very unwilling to allow the difference between the two kinds of soldiery and their weapons to be manifested in such trials; at the same time, he could neither see any prospect of reducing the place speedily, nor any means of subsisting in winter, at such a distance from the sea, and in a country desolated by the calamities of war. He therefore raised the siege; and as, along the whole coast of Acarnania and Ætolia, there was no port capable of containing all the transports that brought supplies to the army, nor any place which afforded lodgings to the legions, he pitched on Anticyra, in Phocis, on the Corinthian gulf, as most commodiously situated for his purpose. There the legions would be at no great distance from Thessaly, and the places belonging to the enemy; while they would have in front Peloponnesus separated from them by a narrow sea; on their rear, Ætolia and Acarnania; and on their sides, Locris and Bœotia. Phanotea and Phocis he took without difficulty, at the first assault. The siege of Anticyra gave him not much delay. Then Ambrysus and Hyampolis were taken. Daulis, being situated on a lofty eminence, could not be reduced either by scalade or works: he therefore provoked the garrison, by missile weapons, to make sallies from out the town. Then by flying at one time, pursuing at another, and engaging in slight skirmishes, he led them into such a degree of carelessness, and such a contempt of him, that at length the Romans, mixing with them as they ran back, entered by the gates, and stormed the town. Six other fortresses in Phocis, of little consequence, came into his hands, through fear rather than by force of arms. Elatia shut its gates, and the inhabitants seemed determined not to admit within their walls either the army or general of the Romans, unless compelled by force.

XIX. While the consul was employed in the siege of Elatia, a prospect opened to him of effecting a business of much Edition: current; Page: [308] more importance: of being able to prevail on the Achæans to renounce their alliance with Philip, and attach themselves to the Romans. Cycliades, the head of the faction that favoured the interest of Philip, they had now banished; and Aristænus, who wished for a union between his countrymen and the Romans, was prætor. The Roman fleet, with Attalus and the Rhodians, lay at Cenchreæ, and were preparing to lay siege to Corinth with their whole combined force. The consul therefore judged it prudent, that, before they entered on that affair, ambassadors should be sent to the Achæan state, with assurances, that, if they came over from the King to the side of the Romans, the latter would consign Corinth to them, and annex it to the old confederacy of their nation. Accordingly, by the consul’s direction, ambassadors were sent to the Achæans, by his brother Lucius Quintius, by Attalus, and by the Rhodians and Athenians—a general assembly being summoned to meet at Sicyon to give them audience. Now the minds of the Achæans laboured with a complication of difficulties. They feared the Lacedæmonians, their constant and inveterate enemies; they dreaded the arms of the Romans; they were under obligations to the Macedonians, for services both of ancient and of recent date; but the King himself, on account of his perfidy and cruelty, they looked upon with jealous fear, and, not judging from the behaviour which he then assumed for the time, they knew that, on the conclusion of the war, they should find him a more tyrannic master. So that every one of them was not only at a loss what opinion he should support in the senate of his own particular state, or in the general diets of the nation; but, even when they deliberated within themselves, they could not, with any certainty, determine what they ought to wish, or what to prefer. Such was the unsettled state of mind of the members of the assembly, when the ambassadors were introduced to audience. The Roman ambassador, Lucius Calpurnius, spoke first; Edition: current; Page: [309] next the ambassadors of King Attalus; after them, those of the Rhodians; and then Philip’s. The Athenians were heard the last, that they might refute the discourses of the Macedonians. These inveighed against the King with the greatest acrimony of any, for no others had suffered from him so many and so severe hardships. So great a number of speeches succeeding each other, took up the whole of the day; and about sunset, the council was adjourned.

XX. Next day the council met again; and when the magistrates, according to the custom of the Greeks, gave leave, by their herald, to any person who chose to deliver his sentiments, not one stood forth; but they sat a long time, looking on each other in silence. It was no wonder, that men, revolving in their minds matters of such contradictory natures, and who found themselves puzzled and confounded, should be involved in additional perplexity by the speeches continued through the whole preceding day; in which the difficulties, on all sides, were brought into view, and stated in their full force. At length Aristænus, the prætor of the Achæans, not to dismiss the council without any business being introduced, said;—“Achæans, where are now those violent disputes, in which, at your feasts and meetings, whenever mention was made of Philip and the Romans, you scarcely refrained from blows? Now, in a general assembly, summoned on that single business, when you have heard the arguments of the ambassadors on both sides; when the magistrates demand your opinions; when the herald calls you to declare your sentiments, you are struck dumb. Although your concern for the common safety be insufficient for determining the matter, cannot the party zeal which has attached you to one side or the other, extort a word from any one of you? especially when none is so blind as not to perceive, that the time for declaring and recommending what each either wishes or thinks most adviseable, must be at the present moment; Edition: current; Page: [310] that is, before we make any decree. When a decree shall be once passed, every man, even such as at first may have disapproved the measure, must then support it as good and salutary.” These persuasions of the prætor, so far from prevailing on any one person to declare his opinion, did not excite, in all that numerous assembly, collected out of so many states, so much as a murmur or a whisper.

XXI. Then the prætor, Aristænus, proceeded thus:—“Chiefs of Achæa, you are not more at a loss what advice to give, than you are for words to deliver it in; but every one is unwilling to promote the interest of the public at the risk of danger to himself. Were I in a private character, perhaps I too should be silent; but, as prætor, it is my duty to declare, that I see evidently, either that the ambassadors ought to have been refused an audience of the council, or that they ought not to be dismissed from it without an answer. Yet, how can I give them an answer, unless by a decree of yours? And, since not one of you who have been called to this assembly either chooses or dares to make known his sentiments, let us examine (as if they were opinions proposed to our consideration) the speeches of the ambassadors delivered yesterday; supposing, for a moment, the speakers not to have required what was useful to themselves, but to have recommended what they thought most conducive to our advantage. The Romans, the Rhodians, and Attalus, request an alliance and friendship with us; and they demand to be assisted in the war which they are now engaged in against Philip. Philip reminds us of our league with him, and of the obligation of our oath; he requires, only, that we declare ourselves on his side; and says, he will be satisfied if we do not intermeddle in the operations of the war. Who is there so short-sighted as not to perceive the reason why those who are not yet our allies, require more than he who is? This arises not from modesty in Philip, nor from the want of it in Edition: current; Page: [311] the Romans. The Achæan harbours show what it is, which, while it bestows confidence to requisitions on one side, precludes it on the other. We see nothing belonging to Philip but his ambassador: the Roman fleet lies at Cenchreæ, exhibiting to our view the spoils of the cities of Eubœa. We behold the consul and his legions, at the distance of a small tract of sea, over-running Phocis and Locris. You were surprised at Philip’s ambassador, Cleomedon, showing such diffidence yesterday in his application to us to take arms on the side of the King against the Romans. But if we, in pursuance of the same treaty and oath, the obligation of which he inculcated on us, were to ask of him, that Philip should protect us, both from Nabis and his Lacedæmonians, and also from the Romans, he would be utterly unable to find, not only a force for the purpose, but even an answer to return. As much so in truth as was Philip himself, who endeavoured, by promises of waging war against Nabis, to draw away our youth into Eubœa: but finding that we would neither decree such assistance to him, nor choose to be embroiled with Rome, forgot that alliance, on which he now lays such stress, and left us to the Lacedæmonians, to be spoiled and plundered. Besides, to me the arguments of Cleomedon appeared utterly inconsistent. He made light of the war with the Romans; and asserted, that the issue of it would be similar to that of the former, which they waged against Philip. If such be the case, why does he, at a distance, solicit our assistance; rather than come hither in person, and defend us, his old allies, both from Nabis and from the Romans? Us, do I say? Why, then, has he suffered Eretria and Carystus to be taken? Why, so many cities of Thessaly? Why Locris and Phocis? Why does he at present suffer Elatia to be besieged? Did he, either through compulsion, or fear, or choice, quit the streights of Epirus, and those impregnable fastnesses on the river Aous; and why, abandoning the possession Edition: current; Page: [312] of the pass, did he retire into his own kingdom? If, of his own will, he gave up so many allies to the ravages of the enemy, what objection can he make to these allies, after his example, taking care of themselves? If through fear, he ought to pardon the like fear in us. If his retreat was in consequence of a defeat, let me ask you, Cleomedon, shall we, Achæans, be able to withstand the Roman arms, which you, Macedonians, have not withstood? Are we to give credit to your assertion, that the Romans do not employ, in the present war, greater forces or greater strength than they did in the former, or are we to regard the real facts? In the first instance, they aided the Ætolians with a fleet; they sent not to the war either a consul as commander, or a consular army. The maritime cities of Philip’s allies were in terror and confusion; but the inland places so secure against the Roman arms, that Philip ravaged the country of the Ætolians, while they in vain implored succour from those arms. Whereas, in the present case, the Romans, after bringing to a final conclusion the Punic war, which, raging for sixteen years in the bowels, as it were, of Italy, had given them abundance of trouble, sent not auxiliaries to the Ætolians in their quarrels, but, being themselves principals, made a hostile invasion on Macedonia with land and sea forces at once. Their third consul is now pushing forward the war with the utmost vigour. Sulpicius, engaging the King within the territory of Macedonia itself, routed and utterly defeated him; and afterwards despoiled the most opulent part of his kingdom. Then, again, when he was in possession of the streight of Epirus, where, from the nature of the ground, his fortifications, and the strength of his army, he thought himself secure, Quintius drove him out of his camp; pursued him, as he fled into Thessaly; and, almost in the view of Philip himself, stormed the royal garrisons, and the cities of his allies. Supposing that there were no truth in what the Athenian ambassadors Edition: current; Page: [313] mentioned yesterday, respecting the cruelty, avarice, and lust of the King; supposing the crimes committed, in the country of Attica, against the gods, celestial and infernal, concerned us not at all; that we had less to complain of than what the people of Cyus and Abydus, who are far distant from us, have endured: let us then, if you please, forget even our own wounds; let the murders and ravages committed at Messena, and in the heart of Peloponnesus, the killing of his host Garitenes, at Cyparissia, in the midst of a feast, in contempt of all laws divine and human; the murder of the two Aratuses, of Sicyon, father and son, though he was wont to call the unfortunate old man his parent; his carrying away the son’s wife into Macedonia for the gratification of his vicious appetites, and all his violations of virgins and matrons;—let all these, I say, be forgotten; let all be consigned to oblivion. Let us suppose our business were not with Philip, through dread of whose cruelty you are all thus struck dumb; for what other cause could keep you silent, when you have been summoned to a council? Let us imagine that we are treating with Antigonus, a prince of the greatest mildness and equity, to whose kindness we have all been highly indebted; would he require us to perform, what at the time was impossible? Peloponnesus is a peninsula, united to the continent by a narrow isthmus, particularly exposed and open to the attacks of naval armaments. Now, if a hundred decked ships, and fifty lighter open ones, and thirty Issean barks, shall begin to lay waste our coasts, and attack the cities which stand exposed, almost on the very shore; shall we then retreat into the inland towns, as if we were not afflicted with an intestine war, though in truth it is rankling in our very bowels? When Nabis and the Lacedæmonians by land, and the Roman fleet by sea, shall press us, where must I implore the support due from the King’s alliance; where the succours Edition: current; Page: [314] of the Macedonians? Shall we ourselves, with our own arms, defend, again the Roman forces, the cities that will be attacked? Truly, in the former war, we defended Dymæ excellently well! The calamities of others afford us abundant examples; let us not seek to render ourselves an example to the rest. Do not, because the Romans voluntarily desire your friendship, contemn that which you ought to have prayed for, nay, laboured with all your might to obtain. But, it is insinuated, that they are impelled by fear, in a country to which they are strangers; and that, wishing to shelter themselves under your assistance, they have recourse to your alliance in the hope of being admitted into your harbours, and of there finding supplies of provisions. Now, at sea, they are absolute masters; and instantly reduce to subjection every place at which they land. What they request, they have power to enforce. Because they wish to treat you with tenderness, they do not allow you take steps that must lead you to ruin. Cleomedon lately pointed out, as the middle and safest way, to maintain a neutrality; but that is not a middle way; it is no way. For, besides the necessity of either embracing or rejecting the Roman alliance, what other consequence can ensue from such conduct, than that, while we show no steady attachment to either side, as if we waited the event with design to adapt our counsels to fortune, we shall become the prey of the conqueror? Contemn not, then, when it is offered to your acceptance, what you ought to have solicited with your warmest prayers. The free option between the two, which you have this day, you will not always have. The same opportunity will not last long, nor will it frequently recur. You have long wished to deliver yourselves out of the hands of Philip, although you have not dared to make the attempt. Those have now crossed the sea, with large fleets and armies, who are able to set you at Edition: current; Page: [315] liberty, without any trouble or danger to yourselves. If you reject such allies, the soundness of your understandings may be called in question; but you must unavoidably have to deal with them, either as friends or foes.”

XXII. This speech of the prætor was followed by a general murmur; some declaring their approbation, and others sharply rebuking those who did so. And now, not only individuals, but whole states engaged in altercation; and at length the magistrates, called Demiurguses,* who are ten in number, took up the dispute with as much warmth as the multitude. Five of them declared, that they would propose the question concerning an alliance with Rome, and would take the votes on it; while five insisted, that there was a law, by which the magistrates were prohibited from proposing, and the council from decreeing, any thing injurious to the alliance with Philip. This day, also, was spent in contention, and there remained now but one day more of the regular time of sitting; for, according to the rule, the decree must be passed on the third day: and, as that approached, the zeal of the parties was kindled into such a flame, that scarcely did parents refrain from offering violence to their own sons. There was present a man of Pellene, named Rhisiasus, whose son, Memnon, was a demiurgus, and was of that party which opposed the reading of the decree, and taking the votes. This man, for a long time, entreated his son to allow the Achæans to take proper measures for their common safety, and not, by his obstinacy, to bring ruin on the whole nation; but, finding that his entreaties had no effect, he swore that he would treat him, not as a son, but as an enemy, and would put him to death with his own hand. By these threats he forced him, next day, to join the party that voted for the question being proposed. These, having now become the Edition: current; Page: [316] majority, proposed the question accordingly, while almost every one of the states, openly approving the measure, showed plainly on which side they would vote. Whereupon the Dymæans, Megalopolitans, with several of the Argives, rose up, and withdrew from the council; which step excited neither wonder nor disapprobation. For when, in the memory of their grandfathers, the Megalopolitans had been expelled their country by the Lacedæmonians, Antigonus had reinstated them in their native residence; and, at a later period, when Dymæ was taken and sacked by the Roman troops, Philip ordered that the inhabitants, wherever they were in servitude, should be ransomed, and not only restored them to their liberty, but their country. As to the Argives, besides believing that the royal family of Macedonia derived its origin from them, the greater part were attached to Philip by personal acts of kindness and familiar friendship. For these reasons, when the council appeared disposed to order an alliance to be concluded with Rome, they withdrew; and their secession was readily excused, in consideration of the many and recent obligations by which they were bound to the King of Macedon.

XXIII. The rest of the Achæan states, on their opinions being demanded, ratified, by an immediate decree, the alliance with Attalus and the Rhodians. That with the Romans, as it could not be perfected without an order of the people, they deferred until such time as they could hear from Rome. For the present, it was resolved, that three ambassadors should be sent to Lucius Quintius; and that the whole force of the Achæans should be brought up to Corinth, which city Quintius, after taking Cenchreæ, was then besieging. The Achæans accordingly pitched their camp opposite to the gate that leads to Sicyon. The Romans made their approaches on the side of the city which faces Cenchreæ; Attalus having drawn his army across the isthmus, towards Edition: current; Page: [317] Lechæum, the port on the opposite sea. At first, they did not push forward their operations with any great degree of vigour, because they had hopes of a dissension breaking out between the townsmen and the King’s troops. But afterwards, learning that they all co-operated with unanimity; that the Macedonians exerted themselves as if in defence of their native country; and that the Corinthians submitted to the orders of Androsthenes, commander of the garrison, as if he were their contryman, elected by their own suffrages, and invested with legal authority: the assailants had no other hopes but in force, arms, and their works. They therefore brought up their mounds to the walls, though by very difficult approaches. On that side where the Romans attacked, their ram demolished a considerable part of the wall; and the Macedonians, having run together to defend the place thus stripped of its works, a furious conflict ensued. At first, by reason of the enemy’s superiority in number, the Romans were quickly repulsed; but being joined by the auxiliary troops of Attalus and the Achæans, they restored the fight to an equality; so that there was no doubt of their easily driving the Macedonians and Greeks from their ground, but that there were in the town a great multitude of Italian deserters; some of whom having been in Hannibal’s army, had, through fear of being punished by the Romans, followed Philip; others, having been sailors, had lately quitted the fleets, in hopes of more honourable employment: despair of safety, therefore, in case of the Romans getting the better, inflamed these to a degree, which might rather be called madness than courage. Opposite to Sicyon is the promontory of Juno Acræa, as she is called, stretching out into the main, the passage to Corinth being about seven miles. To this place Philocles, one of the King’s generals, led, through Bœotia, fifteen hundred soldiers; and there were barks from Corinth ready to take these troops on board, and carry them Edition: current; Page: [318] over to Lechæum. Attalus, on this, advised to burn the works, and raise the siege immediately: Quintius was inclined to persevere in the attempt. However, when he saw the King’s troops posted at all the gates, and that the sallies of the besieged could not easily be withstood, he came over to the opinion of Attalus. Thus baffled in their design, they dismissed the Achæans, and returned to their ships. Attalus steered to Piræeus, the Romans to Corcyra.

XXIV. While the naval forces were thus employed, the consul, having encamped before Elatia, in Phocis, first endeavoured, by conferring with the principal inhabitants, to bring them over, and by their means to effect his purpose; but on their answering that they had nothing in their power, because the King’s troops were more numerous and stronger than the townsmen, he assaulted the city on all sides at once with arms and engines. A battering ram shattered a part of the wall that reached from one tower to another, and this falling with a prodigious noise and crash, left much of the town exposed. On this a Roman cohort made an assault through the breach, while at the same time the townsmen, quitting their several posts, ran together from all parts to the endangered place. Others of the Romans climbed over the ruins of the wall, and brought up scaling-ladders to the parts that were standing. As the conflict attracted the eyes and attention of the enemy to one particular spot, the walls were scaled in several places, by which means the soldiers easily entered the town. The noise and tumult which ensued so terrified the enemy, that, quitting the place, which they had crowded together to defend, they all fled in a panic to the citadel, accompanied by the unarmed multitude. The consul, having thus become master of the town, gave it up to be plundered, and then sent a message into the citadel, offering the King’s troops their lives, on condition of their laying down their arms, and departing. To the Elatians he offered their liberty; Edition: current; Page: [319] which terms being agreed to, in a few days after he got possession of the citadel.

XXV. In consequence of Philocles, the King’s general, coming into Achaia, not only Corinth was delivered from the siege, but the city of Argos was betrayed into his hands by some of the principal inhabitants, after they had first sounded the minds of the populace. They had a custom, that, on the first day of assembly, their prætors, for the omen’s sake, should pronounce the names Jupiter, Apollo, and Hercules; in addition to which, a rule had been made, that, along with these, they should join the name of King Philip. After the conclusion of the alliance with the Romans, the herald omitted so to honour him; on which a murmur spread through the multitude, and they soon became clamorous, calling out for the name of Philip, and insisting that the respect, due by law, should be paid as before; which at length being complied with, universal approbation ensued. On the encouragement afforded by this favourable disposition, Philocles was invited, who seized in the night a strong post called Larissa, seated on a hill which overhangs the city, and in which he placed a garrison. At the dawn of day, however, and as he was proceeding in order of battle to the Forum, at the foot of the hill he was met by a line of troops, drawn up to oppose him. This was a body of Achæans, lately posted there, consisting of about five hundred young men, selected out of all the states. Their commander was Ænesidemus, of Dymæ. The King’s general sent a person to recommend to them to evacuate the city, because they were not a match for the townsmen alone, who favoured the cause of Philip; much less when these were joined by the Macedonians, whom even the Romans had not withstood at Corinth. This at first had no effect, either on the commander, or his men; and when they, soon after, perceived the Argives also in arms, coming, in a great body, from the opposite side, and threatening them Edition: current; Page: [320] with destruction, they yet seemed determined to run every hazard, if their leader would persevere. But Ænesidemus, unwilling that the flower of the Achæan youth should be lost, together with the city, made terms with Philocles, that they should have liberty to retire, while himself remained armed with a few of his dependents, and without even stirring from his station. To a person, sent by Philocles to enquire what he meant, he only answered, standing with his shield held out before him, that he meant to die in arms in defence of the city intrusted to his charge. Philocles then ordered some Thracians to throw their javelins at him and his attendants; and they were, every man of them, slain. Thus, notwithstanding the alliance concluded by the Achæans with the Romans, two of their cities, and those of the greatest consequence, Argos and Corinth, were still in the hands of Philip. Such were the services performed in that campaign by the land and sea forces of Rome employed in Greece.

XXVI. In Gaul, the consul Sextus Ælius did nothing worth mention, though he had two armies in the province: one, which he had retained under their standards, although it ought to have been disbanded; and of this, which had served under Lucius Cornelius, proconsul, he had given the command to Caius Helvius, the prætor: the other he had brought with him. He spent nearly the whole summer in compelling the people of Cremona and Placentia to return to their colonies, from whence they had been driven to various places by the calamities of war. While Gaul, beyond expectation, remained quiet through the whole year, an insurrection of the slaves was very near taking place in the neighbourhood of the city. The hostages, given by the Carthaginians, were kept in custody at Setia: as they were the children of the principal families, they were attended by a great multitude of slaves; to this number, many were added, in consequence of the late African war, and by the Setians themselves having Edition: current; Page: [321] bought, from among the spoil, several of those which had been captured. Having conspired together, they sent some of their number to engage in the cause their fellows of the country round Setia, with those at Norba and Circeii. When every thing was fully prepared, they determined, during the games which were soon to be solemnized at the first-mentioned place, to attack the people while intent on the show, and, putting them to death, to make themselves masters of the city in the sudden confusion; and then to seize on Norba and Circeii. Information of this atrocious plot was brought to Rome, to Lucius Cornelius Merula, the city prætor. Two slaves came to him before day, and disclosed the whole proceedings and intentions of the conspirators. The prætor, ordering them to be guarded in his own house, summoned a meeting of the senate; and having laid before them the information of the discoverers, he was ordered to go himself to the spot, and examine into, and crush, the conspiracy. Setting out, accordingly, with five lieutenant-generals, he compelled such as he found in the country, to take the military oath, to arm, and follow him. Having by this tumultuary kind of levy armed about two thousand men, before it was possible to guess his destination, he came to Setia. There the leaders of the conspiracy were instantly apprehended; on which, the remainder fled from the city; but parties were sent through the country to search them out. The services of the two who made the discovery, and of one free person employed, were highly meritorious. The senate ordered a present to the latter of a hundred thousand asses;* to the slaves, twenty-five thousand asses† each, and their freedom. The price was paid to their owners out of the treasury. Not long after, intelligence was received, that others, out of the remaining spirit of the conspiracy, had formed a design of Edition: current; Page: [322] seizing Præneste. The prætor, Lucius Cornelius, went thither, and inflicted punishment on near five hundred persons concerned in that wicked scheme. The public were under apprehensions, that the Carthaginian hostages and prisoners fomented these plots: watches were, therefore, kept at Rome in all the streets, which the inferior magistrates were ordered to go round and inspect; while the triumvirs of the prison, called the Quarry, were to keep a stricter guard than usual. Circular letters were also sent, by the prætor, to all the Latine states, directing that the hostages should be confined within doors, and not at any time allowed the liberty of going into public; and that the prisoners should be kept bound with fetters, of not less than ten pounds weight, and confined in the common jail.

XXVII. In this year, ambassadors from King Attalus made an offering, in the Capitol, of a golden crown of two hundred and fifty-six pounds weight, and returned thanks to the senate, because Antiochus, complying with the requisitions of the Romans, had withdrawn his troops out of Attalus’s territories. During this summer, two hundred horsemen, ten elephants, and two hundred thousand pecks of wheat, were furnished by King Masinissa to the army in Greece. From Sicily also, and Sardinia, large supplies of provisions were sent, with clothing for the troops. Sicily was then governed by Marcus Marcellus, Sardinia by Marcus Porcius Cato, a man of acknowledged integrity and purity of conduct, but deemed too severe in punishing usury. He drove the usurers entirely out of the island; and restricted or abolished the contributions, usually paid by the allies, for maintaining the dignity of the prætors. The consul, Sextus Ælius, coming home from Gaul to Rome to hold the elections, elected consuls, Caius Cornelius Cethegus, and Quintus Minucius Rufus. Two days after, was held the election of prætors; and this year, for the first time, six prætors were appointed, Edition: current; Page: [323] in consequence of the increase of the provinces, and the extension of the bounds of the empire. The persons elected were Lucius Manlius Vulso, Caius Sempronius Tuditanus, Marcus Sergius Silus, Marcus Helvius, Marcus Minucius Rufus, and Lucius Atilius. Of these Sempronius and Helvius were, at the time, plebeian ædiles. The curule ædiles were, Quintus Minucius Thermus, and Tiberius Sempronius Longus. The Roman games were four times repeated during this year.

XXVIII. When the new consuls, Caius Cornelius and Quintus Minucius, entered into office, the chief busines was, the adjusting of the provinces of the consuls and prætors.Y.R.555. bc197. Those of the prætors were the first settled, because that could be done by the lots. The city jurisdiction fell to Sergius; the foreign to Minucius; Atilius obtained Sardinia; Manlius, Sicily; Sempronius the Hither Spain, and Helvius the Farther. When the consuls were preparing to cast lots for Italy and Macedonia, Lucius Oppius and Quintus Fulvius, plebeian tribunes, objected to their proceeding, alleging, that, “Macedonia was a very distant province, and that the principal cause which had hitherto retarded the progress of the war, was, that when it was scarcely entered upon, and just at the commencement of operations, the former consul was always recalled. This was the fourth year, since the declaration of war against Macedonia. The greater part of one year, Sulpicius spent in seeking the King and his army; Villius, on the point of engaging the enemy, was recalled. Quintius was detained at Rome, for the greater part of his year, by business respecting religion; nevertheless, he had so conducted affairs, that had he come earlier into the province, or had the cold season been at a greater distance, he might have put an end to hostilities. He was then just going into winter-quarters; but, by all accounts, he had brought the war into such a state, that if he Edition: current; Page: [324] were not prevented by a successor, there was a reasonable prospect of being able to put an end to it, in the course of the ensuing summer.” By such arguments the tribunes so far prevailed, that the consuls declared, that they would abide by the directions of the senate, if the cavillers would agree to do the same. Both parties having, accordingly, referred the determination entirely to those magistrates, a decree was passed, appointing the two consuls to the government of the province of Italy. Titus Quintius was continued in command, until a successor should be found. To each, two legions were decreed; and they were ordered, with these, to carry on the war with the Cisalpine Gauls, who had revolted from the Romans. A reinforcement of five thousand foot and three hundred horse was ordered to be sent into Macedonia to Quintius, together with three thousand seamen. Lucius Quintius Flamininus was continued in the command of the fleet. To each of the prætors, for the two Spains, were granted eight thousand foot, of the allies and Latines, and four hundred horse; and they were ordered to discharge the veteran troops in their provinces, and also to fix the bounds which should divide the hither from the farther province. Two additional lieutenant-generals were sent to the army in Macedonia, Publius Sulpicius and Publius Villius, who had-been consuls in that province.

XXIX. It was thought necessary, that before the consuls and prætors went abroad, some prodigies should be expiated. For the temples of Vulcan and Summanus*; at Rome, and a wall and a gate at Fregellæ, had been struck by lightning. At Frusino, during the night, a light like day shone out. At Asculum, a lamb was born with two heads and five feet. At Formiæ, two wolves entering the town tore several persons who fell in their way; and, at Rome, a wolf made its way, Edition: current; Page: [325] not only into the city, but into the Capitol. Caius Acilius, plebeian tribune, caused an order to be passed, that five colonies should be led out to the sea-coast; two to the mouths of the rivers Vulturnus and Liternus; one to Puteoli, and one to the fort of Salernum. To these was added Buxentum. To each colony three hundred families were ordered to be sent. The commissioners appointed to make the settlements, who were to hold the office for three years, were Marcus Servilius Geminus, Quintus Minucius Thermus, and Tiberius Sempronius Longus. As soon as the levies, and such other business, religious and civil, as required their personal attendance, was finished, the consuls set out for Gaul. Cornelius took the direct road towards the Insubrians, who were then in arms, and had been joined by the Cænomanians. Quintus Minucius turned his route to the left side of Italy, and leading away his army to the lower sea, to Genoa, opened the campaign with an invasion of Liguria. Two towns, Clastidium and Litubium, both belonging to the Ligurians, and two states of the same nation, Celela and Cerdicium, surrendered to him. And now, all the states on this side of the Po, except the Boians among the Gauls, and the Ilvatians among the Ligurians, were reduced to submission: no less, it is said, than fifteen towns and twenty thousand men. He then led his legions into the territory of the Boians.

XXX. The Boian army had, not very long before, crossed the Po, and joined the Insubrians and Cænomanians; for, having heard that the consuls intended to act with their forces united, they wished to increase their own strength by this junction. But when information reached them, that one of the consuls was ravaging the country of the Boians, a dispute instantly arose. The Boians demanded, that all, in conjunction, should carry succour to those who were attacked; while the Isubrians positively refused to leave their country defenceless. In consequence of this dissension, the armies Edition: current; Page: [326] separated; the Boians went to defend their own territory, and the Insubrians, with the Cænomanians, encamped on the banks of the river Mincius. About five miles below this spot, the consul Cornelius pitched his camp close to the same river. Sending emissaries hence into the villages of the Cænomanians, and Brixia, the capital of their tribe, he learned with certainty that their young men had taken arms without the approbation of the elders; and that the Cænomanians had not joined in the revolt of the Insubrians, by any authority from the state. On which he invited to him the principal of the natives, and endeavoured to contrive and concert with them the means of inducing the younger Cænomanians to forsake the party of the Insubrians; and either to march away and return home, or to come over to the side of the Romans. This he was not able to effect; but so far, he received solemn assurances that, in case of a battle, they would either stand inactive, or, should any occasion offer, would even assist the Romans. The Insubrians knew not that such an agreement had been concluded, but they harboured in their minds some kind of suspicion, that the fidelity of their confederates was wavering. Wherefore, in forming their troops for battle, not daring to intrust either wing to them, lest, if they should treacherously give ground, they might cause a total defeat, they placed them in reserve behind the line. At the beginning of the fight, the consul vowed a temple to Juno Sospita, provided the enemy should, on that day, be routed and driven from the field; on which the soldiers raised a shout, declaring, that they would ensure to their commander the completion of his vow, and at the same time attacked the enemy. The Insubrians did not stand even the first onset. Some writers affirm, that the Cænomanians, falling on their rear, during the heat of the engagement, caused as much disorder there as prevailed in their front; and that, thus assailed on both sides, thirty-five thousand of them were slain, five thousand Edition: current; Page: [327] seven hundred taken prisoners, among whom was Hamilcar, a Carthaginian general, the original cause of the war; and that a hundred and thirty military standards, and above two hundred wagons were taken. On this, the towns, which had joined in the revolt, surrendered to the Romans.

XXXI. The other consul, Minucius, had at first spread his troops through the territory of the Boians, committing violent depredations everywhere; but afterwards, when that people left the Insubrians, and came home to defend their own property, he kept his men within their camp, expecting to come to an engagement with the enemy. Nor would the Boians have declined a battle, if their spirits had not been depressed, by hearing of the defeat of the Insubrians. This so deeply affected them, that, deserting their commander and their camp, they dispersed themselves through the several towns, each wishing to take care of his own effects. Thus they obliged the enemy to alter their mode of carrying on the war: for, no longer hoping to decide the matter by a single battle, he began again to lay waste the lands, burn the houses, and storm the villages. At this time, Clastidium was burned, and the legions were led thence against the Ilvatian Ligurians, who alone refused to submit. That state, also, on learning that the Insubrians had been defeated in battle, and the Boians so terrified that they had not dared to risk an engagement, made a submission. Letters from the consuls, containing accounts of their successes, came from Gaul to Rome at the same time. Marcus Sergius, city prætor, read them in the senate, and afterwards, by direction of the Fathers, in an assembly of the people; on which a supplication, of four days continuance, was decreed.—By this time the winter had begun.

XXXII. During the winter, while Titus Quintius, after the reduction of Elatia, had his troops cantoned in Phocis and Locris, a violent dissension broke out at Opus. One faction Edition: current; Page: [328] invited to their assistance the Ætolians, who were nearest at hand: the other the Romans. The Ætolians arrived first; but the other party, which was the more powerful, refused them admittance, and, despatching a courier to the Roman general, held the citadel until he arrived. The citadel was possessed by a garrison belonging to the King, and they could not be prevailed on to give it up, either by the threats of the people of Opus, or by the commands of the Roman consul. What prevented their being immediately attacked, was, the arrival of an envoy from the King, to solicit the appointing of a time and place for a conference. This request was readily complied with; not that Quintius did not wish to see war concluded under his own auspices, partly by arms, and partly by negotiation: for he knew not, yet, whether one of the new consuls would be sent to take the government in his room, or whether he should be continued in the command; a point which he had charged his friends and relations to labour with all their might. But he thought that a conference would answer this purpose: that it would put it in his power to give matters a turn towards war, in case he remained in the province, or towards peace, if he were to be removed. They chose for the meeting a part of the sea-shore, in the Malian gulph, near Nicæa. Thither Philip came from Demetrias, with five barks and one ship of war: he was accompanied by some principal Macedonians, and an Achæan exile, named Cycliades, a man of considerable note. With the Roman general, were King Amynander, Dionysidorus, ambassador from King Attalus, Agesimbrotus, commander of the Rhodian fleet, Phæneas, prætor of the Ætolians, and two Achæans, Aristenus and Xenophon. Attended by these, the Roman general advanced to the brink of the shore, and the King came forward to the prow of his vessel, as it lay at anchor; when the former said, “If you will come on the shore, we shall converse with greater ease.” This the King Edition: current; Page: [329] refused; and on Quintius asking him, “Whom do you fear?” With the haughty spirit of royalty, he replied, “Fear I have none, but of the immortal gods; but I have no confidence in the faith of those whom I see about you, and least of all in the Ætolians.” “That danger,” said the Roman, “is equal in all cases; when men confer with an enemy, no confidence subsists.” “But, Titus Quintius,” replied the King, “if treachery be intended, the prizes of perfidy are not equal: Philip and Phæneas. For it will not be so difficult for the Ætolians to find another prætor, as for the Macedonians to find another King in my place.”—Silence then ensued.

XXXIII. The Roman expected that he, who solicited the conference, should open it; and the King thought, that he who was to prescribe, not he who received, terms of peace, ought to begin the conference. At length the Roman said, that “his discourse should be very simple; for he would only mention those articles, without which no pacification could be admitted. These were, that the King should withdraw his garrisons from all the cities of Greece. That he should deliver up to the allies of the Roman people the prisoners and deserters; should restore to the Romans those places in Illyricum of which he had possessed himself by force, since the peace concluded in Epirus; and to Ptolemy, King of Egypt, the cities which he had seized since the death of Ptolemy Philopator. These were the terms which he required, on behalf of himself and the Roman people: but it was proper that the demands of the allies, also, should be heard.” The ambassador of King Attalus demanded “restitution of the ships and prisoners, taken in the sea-fight at Cius; and that Nicephorium, and the temple of Venus, which Philip had pillaged and defaced, should be put in a state of thorough repair.” The Rhodians laid claim to Peræa, a tract on the continent, lying opposite to their island, which from early times had been under their jurisdiction; and Edition: current; Page: [330] they required, that “the garrison should be withdrawn from Tassus, Bargylii, and Euroma, and from Sestus and Abydus on the Hellespont; that Perinthus should be restored to the Byzantians, in right of their ancient title, and that all the sea-port towns and harbours of Asia should be free.” The Achæans asserted their right to Corinth and Argos. Phæneas nearly repeated the demands made by the Romans, that the troops should withdraw out of Greece, and the Ætolians be put in possession of the cities which had formerly been under their dominion. He was followed by Alexander, a man of eminence among this people, and, considering his country, not uneloquent. He said, that “he had long kept silence, not because he expected that any business would be effected in that conference, but because he was unwilling to interrupt any of the allies in their discourse.” He asserted, that “Philip had neither treated of peace with sincerity; nor waged war with courage, at any time: that in negotiating, he was insidious and fraudulent: while in war he never fought on equal ground, nor engaged in regular battles; but, skulking about, burned and pillaged towns, and, when likely to be vanquished, destroyed the prizes of victory. But not in that manner did the ancient kings of Macedon behave; they decided the fate of the war in the field, and spared the towns as far as they were able, in order to possess the more opulent empire. For what sort of conduct was it to destroy the objects, for the possession of which the contest was waged, and thereby leave nothing to himself but fighting? Philip had, in the last year, desolated more cities of his allies in Thessaly, than all the enemies that Thessaly ever had. On the Ætolians themselves, he had made greater depredations, when he was in alliance with them, than since he became their enemy. He had seized on Lysimachia, after dislodging the prætor and garrison of the Ætolians. Cius also, a city belonging to their government, he razed from the Edition: current; Page: [331] foundation. With the same injustice, he held possession of Thebes in Pthiotis, of Echinus, Larissa, and Pharsalus.”

XXXIV. Philip, provoked by this discourse of Alexander, pushed his ship nearer to the land, that he might be the better heard, and began to speak with much violence, particularly against the Ætolians. But Phæneas, interrupting him, said that “the business depended not upon words; he must either conquer in war, or submit to his superiors.” “That, indeed, is evident,” said Philip, “even to the blind,” sneering at Phæneas, who had a disorder in his eyes: for he was naturally fonder of such pleasantries than became a king; and, even in the midst of serious business, he indulged a turn to ridicule farther than was decent. He then expressed great indignation at the “Ætolians assuming as much importance as the Romans, and insisting on his evacuating Greece; people who knew not even its boundaries. For, of Ætolia itself, a large proportion, consisting of the Agræans, Apodeotians, and Amphilochians, was no part of Greece.—Have they just ground of complaint against me, for not refraining from war with their allies, when themselves, from the earliest period, follow, as an established rule, the practice of suffering their young men to carry arms against those allies, withholding only the public authority of the state: while very frequently contending armies have Ætolian auxiliaries on both sides. I did not seize on Cius by force, but assisted my friend and ally, Prussias, who was besieging it, and Lysimachia I rescued from the Thracians. But since necessity diverted my attention from the guarding of it to this present war, the Thracians have possession of it. So much for the Ætolians. To Attalus, and the Rhodians, I in justice owe nothing; for not to me, but to themselves, is the commencement of hostilities to be attributed. However, out of respect to the Romans, I will restore Peræa to the Rhodians, and to Attalus his ships, and such prisoners as can be found. As to what concerns Edition: current; Page: [332] Nicephorum, and the temple of Venus, what other answer can I make to those who require their restoration, than what I should make in case of woods and groves cut down: that, as the only way of restoring them, I will take on myself the trouble and expense of planting, since it is thought fit that, between kings, such kinds of demands should be made and answered.” The last part of his speech was directed to the Achæans, wherein he enumerated, first, the kindnesses of Antigonus; then, his own towards their nation, desiring them to consider the decrees themselves had passed concerning him, which comprehended every kind of honour, divine and human; and to these he added their late decree, by which they had confirmed the resolution of deserting him. He inveighed bitterly against their perfidy, but told them, that nevertheless he would give them back Argos. “With regard to Corinth, he would consult with the Roman general; and would, at the same time, inquire from him, whether he demanded, only, that he (Philip) should evacuate those cities, which, being captured by himself, were held by the right of war; or those, also, which he had received from his ancestors.”

XXXV. The Achæans and Ætolians were preparing to answer, but as the sun was near setting, the conference was adjourned to the next day; and Philip returned to his station whence he came, the Romans and allies to their camp. On the following day, Quintius repaired to Nicæa, which was the place agreed on, at the appointed time; but neither Philip, nor any message from him, came for several hours. At length, when they began to despair of his coming, his ships suddenly appeared. He said, that “the terms enjoined were so severe and humiliating, that, not knowing what to determine, he had spent the day in deliberation.” But the general opinion was, that he had purposely delayed the business, that the Achæans and Ætolians might not have time to answer Edition: current; Page: [333] him: and this opinion he himself confirmed, by desiring, in order to avoid altercation, and to bring the affair to some conclusion, that the others should retire, and leave him to converse with the Roman general. For some time, this was not admitted, lest the allies should appear to be excluded from the conference. Afterwards, on his persisting in his desire, the Roman general, with the consent of all, taking with him Appius Claudius, a military tribune, advanced to the brink of the coast, and the rest retired. The King, with the two persons whom he had brought the day before, came on shore, where they conversed a considerable time in private. What account of their proceedings Philip gave to his people is not well known: what Quintius told the allies was, that “Philip was willing to cede to the Romans the whole coast of Illyricum, and to give up the deserters and prisoners, if there were any. That he consented to restore to Attalus his ships, and the seamen taken with them; and to the Rhodians the tract which they call Peræa. That he refused to evacuate Iassus and Bargylii. To the Ætolians he was ready to restore Pharsalus and Larissa; Thebes he would keep: and that he would give back to the Achæans the possession, not only of Argos, but of Corinth also.” This arrangement pleased none of the parties; neither those to whom the concessions were to be made, nor those to whom they were refused; “for on that plan,” they said, “more would be lost than gained; nor could the grounds of contention ever be removed, but by his utterly evacuating every part of Greece.”

XXXVI. These expressions, delivered with eagerness and vehemence by every one in the assembly, reached the ears of Philip, though he stood at a distance. He therefore requested of Quintius, that the whole business might be deferred until the next day; and then he would, positively, either prevail on the allies to accede to his proposals, or suffer himself to Edition: current; Page: [334] be prevailed on to accede to theirs. The shore at Thronium was appointed for their meeting, and all the parties assembled there early. Philip began with entreating Quintius, and all who were present, not to harbour such sentiments as must tend to obstruct a pacification; and then desired time, while he could send ambassadors to Rome, to the senate, declaring, that “he would either obtain a peace on the terms mentioned, or would accept whatever terms the senate should prescribe.” None approved of this; they said, he only sought a delay, and leisure to collect his strength. But Quintius observed, “that such an objection would have been well founded, if it were then summer, and a season fit for action; as matters stood, and the winter being just at hand, nothing would be lost by allowing him time to send ambassadors. For, without the authority of the senate, no agreement which they might conclude with the King would be valid; and besides, they would by this means have an opportunity, while the winter itself would necessarily cause a suspension of arms, to learn what terms were likely to be approved by the senate.” The other chiefs of the allies came over to this opinion: and a cessation of hostilities for two months being granted, they resolved that each of their states should send an ambassador with the necessary information to the senate, and in order that it should not be deceived by the misrepresentations of Philip. To the above convention was added an article, that all the King’s troops should be immediately withdrawn from Phocis and Locris. With the ambassadors of the allies, Quintius sent Amynander, King of Athamania; and, to add a degree of splendour to the embassy, a deputation from himself, composed of Quintius Fabius, the son of his wife’s sister, Quintus Fulvius, and Appius Claudius.

XXXVII. On their arrival at Rome, the ambassadors of the allies were admitted to audience before those of the King. Their discourse, in general, was filled up with invectives Edition: current; Page: [335] against Philip. What produced the greatest effect on the minds of the senate, was, that, by pointing out the relative situations of the lands and seas, in that part of the world, they made it manifest to every one, that if the King held Demetrias in Thessaly, Chalcis in Eubœa, and Corinth in Achaia, Greece could not be free; and they added, that Philip himself, with not more insolence than truth, used to call these the fetters of Greece. The King’s ambassadors were then introduced, and, when they were beginning a long harangue, they were stopped by a short question, Whether he was willing to yield up the three above mentioned cities? They answered, that they had received no specific instructions on that head: on which they were dismissed, without having made any progress towards a peace. Full authority was given to Quintius to determine every thing relative to war and peace. As this demonstrated, clearly, that the senate were not weary of the war, so he who was more earnestly desirous of conquest than of peace, never afterwards consented to a conference with Philip; and even gave him notice, that he would not admit any embassy from him, unless it came with information that his troops were retiring from Greece.

XXXVIII. Philip now perceived that he must decide the matter by arms, and collect his strength about him from all quarters. Being particularly uneasy in respect to the cities of Achaia, a country so distant from him, and also of Argos, even more, indeed, than of Corinth, he resolved, as the most adviseable method, to put the former into the hands of Nabis, tyrant of Lacedæmon, in trust as it were, on the terms, that if he should prove successful in the war, Nabis should redeliver it to him; if any misfortune should happen, he should keep it himself. Accordingly, he wrote to Philocles, who had the command in Corinth and Argos, to have a meeting with the tyrant. Philocles, besides coming with a valuable Edition: current; Page: [336] present, added to that pledge of future friendship between the King and the tyrant, that it was Philip’s wish to unite his daughters in marriage to the sons of Nabis. The tyrant, at first, refused to receive the city on any other terms, than that of being invited by a decree of the Argives themselves: but afterwards, hearing that in a full assembly they had treated his name not only with scorn, but even with abhorrence, he thought he had now a sufficient excuse for plundering them, and he accordingly desired Philip to give him possession of the place. Nabis was admitted into the city in the night, without the privity of any of the inhabitants, and, at the first light, seized on the higher parts of it, and shut the gates. A few of the principal people having made their escape, during the first confusion, the properties of all who were absent were seized as booty: those who were present, were stripped of their gold and silver, and loaded with exorbitant contributions. Such as paid these readily were discharged, without personal insult and laceration of their bodies; but such as were suspected of hiding or reserving any of their effects, were mangled and tortured like slaves. He then summoned an assembly, in which he proposed the passing of two laws; one for an abolition of debts, the other for a distribution of the land, in shares, to each man—two firebrands in the hands of the enemies of government, for inflaming the populace against the higher ranks.

XXXIX. The tyrant, when he had the city of Argos in his power, never considering from whom, or on what conditions he had received it, sent ambassadors to Elatia, to Quintius, and to Attalus, in his winter-quarters at Ægina, to tell them, that “he was in possession of Argos; and that if Quintius would come hither, and consult with him, he had no doubt but that every thing might be adjusted between them.” Quintius, glad of an opportunity of depriving Philip of that Edition: current; Page: [337] strong hold, along with the rest, consented to come; accordingly, sending a message to Attalus, to leave Ægina, and meet him at Sicyon, he set sail from Anticyra with ten quinqueremes, which his brother Lucius Quintius happened to bring a little before from his winter station at Corcyra, and passed over to Sicyon. Attalus was there before him, who, representing that the tyrant ought to come to the Roman general, not the general to the tyrant, brought Quintius over to his opinion, which was, that he should not enter the city of Argos. Not far from it, however, was a place called Mycenica; and there the parties agreed to meet. Quintius came, with his brother and a few military tribunes; Attalus, with his royal retinue; and Nicostratus, the prætor of the Achæans, with a few of the auxiliary officers: and they there found Nabis waiting with his whole army. He advanced, armed and attended by his guards, almost to the middle of the interjacent plain; Quintius, unarmed, with his brother and two military tribunes; the King was accompanied by one of his nobles, and the prætor of the Achæans unarmed likewise. The tyrant, when he saw the King and the Roman general unarmed, opened the conference, with apologizing for having come to the meeting armed himself, and surrounded with armed men. “He had no apprehensions,” he said, “from them; but only from the Argive exiles.” When they then began to treat of the terms, on which friendship was to be established between them, the Roman made two demands: one, that the Lacedæmonian should conclude a peace with the Achæans; the other, that he should send him aid against Philip. He promised the aid required; but, instead of a peace with the Achæans, a cessation of hostilities was obtained, to last until the war with Philip should be ended.

XL. A debate, concerning the Argives also, was set on foot by King Attalus, who charged Nabis with holding their city Edition: current; Page: [338] by force, which was put into his hands by the treachery of Philocles; while Nabis insisted, that he had been invited by the Argives themselves to afford them protection. The King required a general assembly of the Argives to be convened, that the truth of that matter might be known. To this the tyrant did not object; but the King alleged, that the Lacedæmonian troops ought to be withdrawn from the city, in order to render the assembly free; and that the people should be left at liberty to declare their real sentiments. This was refused, and the debate produced no effect. To the Roman general, six hundred Cretans were given by Nabis, who agreed with the prætor of the Achæans to a cessation of arms for four months, and then the conference broke up. Quintius proceeded to Corinth, advancing to the gates with the cohort of Cretans, in order to shew Philocles, the governor of the city, that the tyrant had deserted the cause of Philip. Philocles, came out to confer with the Roman general; and, on the latter exhorting him to change sides immediately, and surrender the city, he answered in such a manner, as showed an inclination rather to defer, than to refuse the matter. From Corinth, Quintius sailed over to Anticyra, and sent his brother thence, to sound the disposition of the people of Acarnania. Attalus went from Argos to Sicyon. Here, on one side, the state added new honours to those formerly paid to the King; and, on the other, the King, besides having on a former occasion redeemed for them, at a vast expence, a piece of land sacred to Apollo, unwilling to pass by the city of his friends and allies without a token of munificence, made them a present of ten talents of silver*, and ten thousand bushels of corn, and then returned to Cenchreæ to his fleet. Nabis, leaving a strong garrison at Argos, returned to Lacedæmon; and, as he himself had pillaged the men, he Edition: current; Page: [339] sent his wife to Argos to pillage the women. She invited to her house, sometimes singly, and sometimes in numbers, all the females of distinction who were related to each other: and partly by fair speeches, partly by threats, stripped them, not only of their gold, but, at last, even of their garments, and every article of dress.

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BOOK XXXIII.

Titus Quintus Flamininus, proconsul, gains a decisive victory over Philip at Cynoscephalæ. Caius Sempronius Tuditanus, prætor, cut off by the Celtiberians. Death of Attalus, at Pergamus. Peace granted to Philip, and liberty to Greece. Lucius Furius Purpureo and Marcus Claudius Marcellus, consuls, subdue the Boian and Insubrian Gauls. Triumph of Marcellus. Hannibal, alarmed at an embassy from Rome concerning him, flies to Antiochus, King of Syria, who was preparing to make war on the Romans.

Y.R. 555. bc 197.I. SUCH were the occurrences of the winter. In the beginning of spring, Quintius urged Attalus to join him, which he did, at Elatia; and being anxious to bring under his authority the nation of the Bœotians, who had hitherto been wavering and irresolute, he marched through Phocis, and pitched his camp at the distance of five miles from Thebes, the capital of Bœotia. Next day, attended by one company of soldiers, and by Attalus, together with the ambassadors, who had come to him in great numbers, from all quarters, he proceeded towards the city, Edition: current; Page: [341] having ordered the spearmen of two legions, being two thousand men, to follow him at the distance of a mile. About midway, Antiphilus, prætor of the Bœotians, met him: the rest of the people stood on the walls, watching the arrival of the King and the Roman general. Few arms and few soldiers appeared—the hollow roads, and the vallies, concealing from view the spearmen, who followed at a distance. When Quintius drew near the city, he slackened his pace, as if with intention to salute the multitude, who came out to meet him: but the real motive of his delaying was, that the spearmen might come up. The townsmen pushed forward, in a crowd, before the lictors, not perceiving the band of soldiers who were following them close, until they arrived at the general’s quarters. Then, supposing the city betrayed and taken, through the treachery of Antiphilus, their prætor, they were all struck with astonishment and dismay. It was now evident that no room was left to the Bœotians for a free discussion of measures in the assembly, which was summoned for the following day. However they concealed their grief, which it would have been both vain and unsafe to have discovered.

II. When the assembly met, Attalus, first, rose to speak, and he began his discourse with a recital of the kindnesses conferred by his ancestors and himself on the Greeks in general, and on the Bœotians in particular. But, being now too old and infirm to bear the exertion of speaking in public, he lost his voice, and fell; and for some time, while they were carrying him to his apartments, (for he was deprived of the use of one half of his limbs,) the proceedings of the assembly were stopped. Then, Aristænus spoke on the part of the Achæans, and was listened to with the greater attention, because he recommended to the Bœotians no other measures than those which he had recommended to the Achæans. A few words were added by Quintius, extolling the good faith Edition: current; Page: [342] rather than the arms and power of the Romans. A resolution was then proposed, by Dicæarchus of Platæa, for forming a treaty of friendship with the Roman people, which was read; and no one daring to offer any opposition, it passed by the suffrages of all the states of Bœotia. When the assembly broke up, Quintius made no longer stay at Thebes than the sudden misfortune of Attalus made necessary. When he found that the force of the disorder had not brought the King’s life into any immediate danger, but had only occasioned a weakness in his limbs, he left him there, to use the necessary means for recovery, and went back to Elatia. Having now brought the Bœotians, as formerly the Achæans, to join in the confederacy, while all places were in a state of tranquillity and safety, he bent his thought and attention towards Philip, and the remaining business of the war.

III. Philip, on his part, as his ambassadors had brought no hopes of peace from Rome, resolved, as soon as spring began, to levy soldiers through every town in his dominions: but he found a great scarcity of young men; for successive wars, through several generations, had very much exhausted the Macedonians, and, even in the course of his own reign, great numbers had fallen, in the naval engagements with the Rhodians and Attalus, and in those on land with the Romans. Mere youths, therefore, from the age of sixteen, were enlisted; and even those who had served out their time, provided they had any remains of strength, were recalled to their standards. Having, by these means, filled up the numbers of his army about the vernal equinox, he drew together all his forces to Dius; he encamped them there in a fixed post; and, exercising the soldiers every day, waited for the enemy. About the same time Quintius left Elatia, and came by Thronium and Scarphea to Thermopylæ. There he held an assembly of the Ætolians, which had been summoned to meet at Heraclea, to determine what number of men they Edition: current; Page: [343] should send to assist the Romans. On the third day, having learned the determination of the allies, he proceeded from Heraclea to Xyniæ; and, pitching his camp on the confines between the Ænians and Thessalians, waited for the Ætolian auxiliaries. The Ætolians occasioned no delay. Two thousand foot, and four hundred horse, under the command of Phæneas, speedily joined him; and then Quintius, to show plainly what he had waited for, immediately decamped. On passing into the country of Phthiotis, he was joined by five hundred Cretans of Gortynium, whose commander was Cydates, with three hundred Apollonians, armed nearly in the same manner; and not long after, by Amynander, with one thousand two hundred Athamanian foot,

IV. Philip, being informed of the departure of the Romans from Elatia, and considering that, on the approaching contest, his kingdom was at hazard, thought it adviseable to make an encouraging speech to his soldiers; in which, after he had expatiated on many topics often insisted on before, respecting the virtues of their ancestors, and the military fame of the Macedonians, he touched particularly on two things, which at the time threw the greatest damp on their spirits, laying great stress upon such as might revive their courage, and give them some degree of confidence. To the defeat suffered at the river Aous, where the phalanx of the Macedonians was thrown into consternation and disorder, he opposed the repulse given by main force to the Romans at Atrax: and even with respect to the former case, when they had not maintained possession of the pass leading into Epirus, he said, “the first fault was to be imputed to those who had been negligent in keeping the guards; and the second, to the light-infantry and mercenaries in the time of the engagement; but that, as to the phalanx of the Macedonians, it had stood firm on that occasion; and would for ever remain invincible, on equal ground, and in regular fight.” This body Edition: current; Page: [344] consisted of sixteen thousand men, the prime strength of the army, and of the kingdom. Besides these, he had two thousand targeteers, called Peltastæ; of Thracians and Illyrians, of the tribe called Trallians, the like number of two thousand; and of hired auxiliaries, collected out of various nations, about one thousand; and two thousand horse. With this force the King waited for the enemy. The Romans had nearly an equal number; in cavalry they had a superiority, by the addition of the Ætolians.

V. Quintius, marching to Thebes in Phthiotis, sat down before it; and having received encouragement to hope, that the city would be betrayed to him by Timon, a leading man in the state, he came up close to the walls, with only a small number of cavalry and some light-infantry. So entirely were his expectations disappointed, that he was not only obliged to maintain a fight with the enemy, who sallied out against him, but would have been in extreme danger, had not both infantry and cavalry been called out hastily from the camp, and come up in time. Not meeting with that success which his too sanguine hopes had led him to expect, he desisted from any farther attempt on the city at present. He had received certain information of the King being in Thessaly; but as he had not yet discovered into what part of it he had come, he sent his soldiers round the country, with orders to cut timber and prepare palisades. Both Macedonians and Greeks had palisades; but the latter had not adopted the most convenient mode of using them, either with respect to carriage, or for the purpose of strengthening their posts. They cut trees, both too large, and too full of branches for a soldier to carry easily along with his arms: and after they had fenced their camp with a line of these, to demolish them was no difficult matter; for the trunks appearing to view, with great intervals between them, and the numerous and strong shoots affording the hand a good hold, two, or at most, Edition: current; Page: [345] three young men, uniting their efforts, used to pull out one tree, which being removed, left a breach as wide as a gate, and there was nothing at hand with which it could be stopped up. But the Romans cut light stakes, mostly of one fork, with three or, at the most, four branches; so that a soldier, with his arms slung at his back, can carry several of them together; and then they stick them down so closely, and interweave the branches in such a manner, that it cannot be seen to what extent any branch belongs; besides which, the boughs are so sharp, and wrought so intimately with each other, as to leave no room for a hand to be thrust between, consequently an enemy cannot lay hold of any thing, or, if that could be done, could he draw out the branches thus intertwined, and which mutually bind each other. Nay, even if, by accident, one should be pulled out, it leaves but a small opening, which is very easily filled up.

VI. Next day Quintius, causing his men to carry palisades with them, that they might be ready to encamp on any spot, marched a short way, and took post about six miles from Pheræ; whence he sent scouts, to discover in what part of Thessaly the King was, and what appeared to be his intention. Philip was then near Larissa, and as soon as he learned that the Roman general had removed from Thebes, being equally impatient for a decisive engagement, he proceeded towards the enemy, and pitched his camp about four miles from Pheræ. On the day following, some light troops went out from both camps, to seize on certain hills which overlooked the city. When, nearly at equal distances from the summit which was intended to be seized, they came within sight of each other, they halted; and sending messengers to their respective camps for directions, how they were to proceed on this unexpected meeting, waited their return in quiet. For that day, they were recalled to their camps, without having come to action. On the following day there was Edition: current; Page: [346] an engagement between the cavalry, near the same hills, in which the Ætolians bore no small part; and in which the King’s troops were defeated, and driven within their trenches. Both parties were greatly impeded in the action, by the ground being thickly planted with trees; by the gardens, of which there were many in a place so near the city; and by the roads being inclosed between walls, and in some places shut up. The commanders, therefore, were equally desirous of removing out of that quarter; and, as if they had preconcerted the matter, they both directed their route to Scotussa: Philip hoping to find there a supply of corn; the Roman intending to get before him, and destroy the crops. The armies marched the whole day without having sight of each other in any place, the view being intercepted by a continued range of hills between them. The Romans encamped at Eretria, in Phthiotis; Philip, on the river Onchestus. But though Philip, lay at Melambrius, in the territory of Scotussa, and Quintius near Thetidium, in Pharsalia, neither party knew with any certainty, where his antagonist was. On the third day, there fell a violent rain, which was succeeded by darkness equal to that of night, and this confined the Romans to their camp, through fear of an ambuscade.

VII. Philip, intent on hastening his march, suffered not himself to be delayed by the clouds, which, after the rain, covered the face of the country, but ordered his troops to march: and yet so thick a fog had obscured the day, that neither the standard bearers could see the road, nor the soldiers the standards; so that all, led blindly by the shouts of uncertain guides, fell into disorder, like men wandering by night. When they had passed over the hills called Cynoscephalæ, where they left a strong guard of foot and horse, they pitched their camp. Although the Roman general staid at Thetidium, yet he detached ten troops of horse, and one thousand foot, to find out where the enemy lay; Edition: current; Page: [347] warning them, however, against ambuscades, which the darkness of the day would cover, even in an open country. When these arrived at the hills, where the enemy’s guard was posted, struck with mutual fear, both parties stood, as if deprived of the power of motion. They then sent back messengers to their respective commanders; and when the first surprise subsided, they proceeded to action without more delay. The fight was begun by small advanced parties; and afterwards the number of the combatants were increased by reinforcements sent to support those who gave way. But the Romans, far inferior to their adversaries, sent message after message to the general, that they were in danger of being overpowered: on which he hastily sent five hundred horse, and two thousand foot, mostly Ætolians, under the command of two military tribunes, who relieved them, and restored the fight. The Macedonians, distressed in turn by this change of fortune, sent to beg succour from their King: but as, on account of the general darkness from the fog, he had expected nothing less, on that day, than a battle, and had therefore sent a great number of men, of every kind, to forage, he was, for a considerable time in great perplexity, and unable to form a resolution. The messengers still continued to urge him; the covering of clouds was now removed from the tops of the mountains, and the Macedonian party was in view, having been driven up to the highest summit, and trusting for safety rather to the nature of the ground, than to their arms. He therefore thought it necessary, at all events, to hazard the whole, in order to prevent the loss of a part, for want of support; and, accordingly, he sent up Athenagoras, general of the mercenaries, with all the auxiliaries, except the Thracians, joined by the Macedonian and Thessalian cavalry. On their arrival the Romans were forced from the top of the hill, and did not face about until they came to the level plain. The principal support which saved them from being driven down Edition: current; Page: [348] in disorderly flight, was the Ætolian horsemen. The Ætolians were then by far the best cavalry in Greece; in infantry, they were surpassed by some of their neighbours.

VIII. The accounts of this affair, which were brought to the King, represented it in a more flattering light than the advantage gained could warrant; for people came, one after another, and calling out, that the Romans were flying in a panic: so that, notwithstanding it was against his judgment, and he demurred, declaring it a rash proceeding, and that he liked not either the place or the time, yet he was prevailed upon to draw out his whole force to battle. The Roman general did the same, induced by necessity, rather than by the favourableness of the occasion. Leaving the right wing as a reserve, having the elephants posted in front, he, with the left, and all the light infantry, advanced against the enemy; at the same time reminding his men, that “they were going to fight the same Macedonians whom they had fought in the passes of Epirus, fenced, as they were, with mountains and rivers, and whom, after conquering the natural difficulties of the ground, they had dislodged and vanquished; the same, in short, whom they had before defeated under the command of Publius Sulpicius, when they opposed their passage to Eordæa. That the kingdom of Macedonia had been hitherto supported by its reputation, not by real strength. Even that reputation had, at length, vanished.” Quintius soon reached his troops, who stood in the bottom of the valley; and they, on the arrival of their general and the army, renewed the fight, and, making a vigorous onset, compelled the enemy again to turn their backs. Philip, with the targeteers, and the right wing of infantry (the main strength of the Macedonian army, called by them the phalanx), advanced in a quick pace, having ordered Nicanor, one of his courtiers, to bring up the rest of his forces with all speed. On reaching the top of the hill, from a few arms and bodies lying there, he Edition: current; Page: [349] perceived that there had been an engagement on the spot, and that the Romans had been repulsed from it. When he likewise saw the fight now going on close to the enemy’s works, he was elated beyond measure: but presently, observing his men flying back, and the danger his own, he was much embarrassed, and hesitated for some time, whether he should cause his troops to retire into the camp. He was sensible that his party, besides the losses which they suffered as they fled, must be entirely lost, if not speedily succoured; and as, by this time, a retreat would be unsafe, he found himself compelled to put all to hazard, before he was joined by the other division of his forces. He placed the cavalry and light-infantry that had been engaged, on the right wing; and ordered the targeteers, and the phalanx of Macedonians, to lay aside their spears, which their great length rendered unserviceable, and to manage the business with their swords: at the same time, that his line might not be easily broken, he lessened the extent of the front one half, and doubled the files in depth. He ordered them also to close their files, so that men and arms should touch each other.

IX. Quintius, having received among the standards and ranks those who had been engaged with the enemy, gave the signal by sound of trumpet. It is said, that such a shout was raised, as was seldom heard at the beginning of any battle; for it happened, that both armies shouted at once; not only the troops then engaged, but also the reserves, and those who were just then coming into the field. The King, fighting from the higher ground, had the better on the right wing, by means chiefly of the advantage of situation. On the left, all was disorder and confusion; particularly when that division of the phalanx, which had marched in the rear, was coming up. The centre stood spectators of the fight, as if it no way concerned them. The phalanx, just arrived, (a column rather than a line of battle, and fitter for a march than for a fight,) Edition: current; Page: [350] had scarcely mounted the top of the hill: before these could form, Quintius, though he saw his men in the left wing giving way, charged the enemy furiously, first driving on the elephants against them, for he judged that one part being routed would draw the rest after. There was no dispute. The Macedonians, unable to stand the first shock of the elephants, instantly turned their backs; and the rest, as had been foreseen, followed them in their retreat. Then, one of the military tribunes, forming his design in the instant, took with him twenty companies of men; left that part of the army which was evidently victorious; and making a small circuit, fell on the rear of the enemy’s right wing. Any army whatever must have been disordered by his charge. Such charge and disorder is, indeed, incident to all armies in general, but there was in this case a circumstance particularly aggravating. The phalanx of the Macedonians being heavy, could not readily face about; nor would they have been suffered to do it by their adversaries in front, who, although they gave way to them a little before, on this new occasion pressed them vigorously. Besides, they lay under another inconvenience in respect of the ground; for, by pursuing the retreating enemy down the face of the hill, they had left the top to the party who came round on their rear. Thus attacked on both sides, they were exposed for some time to great slaughter, and then betook themselves to flight, most of them throwing away their arms.

X. Philip, with a small party of horse and foot, ascended a hill somewhat higher than the rest, to take a view of the situation of his troops on the left. Then, when he saw them flying in confusion, and all the hills around glittering with Roman standards and arms, he withdrew from the field. Quintius, as he was pressing on the retreating enemy, observed the Macedonians suddenly raising up their spears, and not knowing what they meant thereby, he ordered the troops Edition: current; Page: [351] to halt. Then, on being told that this was the practice of the Macedonians, intimating an intention of surrendering themselves prisoners, he was disposed to spare the vanquished; but the troops, not being apprised, either of the enemy having ceased fighting, or of the general’s intention, made a charge on them, and the foremost being soon cut down, the rest dispersed themselves and fled. Philip hastened with all possible speed to Tempe, and there halted one day at Gonni, to pick up those who might have survived the battle. The victorious Romans rushed into the Macedonian camp with hopes of spoil, but found it, for the most part, plundered already by the Ætolians. Eight thousand of the enemy were killed on that day, five thousand taken. Of the victors, about seven hundred fell. Valerius Antias, who on every occasion exaggerates numbers enormously, says that the killed of the enemy on that day amounted to forty thousand; the prisoners taken (in which article the deviation from truth is less extravagant), to five thousand seven hundred, with two hundred and forty-one military standards. Claudius also asserts, that thirty-two thousand of the enemy were slain, and four thousand three hundred taken. We have not given entire credit, even to the smallest of those numbers, but have followed Polybius, a writer whose testimony may be depended on with respect to all the Roman affairs, but especially those which were transacted in Greece.

XI. Philip having collected, after the flight, such as, having been scattered by the various chances of the battle, had followed his steps, and having sent people to Larissa to burn the records of the kingdom, lest they should fall into the hands of the enemy, retired into Macedonia. Quintius set up to sale a part of the prisoners and booty, and part he bestowed on the soldiers; and then proceeded to Larissa, without having yet received any certain intelligence to what quarter Philip had betaken himself, or what were his designs. To Edition: current; Page: [352] this place came a herald from the King, apparently to obtain a truce, until those who had fallen in battle should be removed and buried, but in reality to request permission to send ambassadors. Both were obtained from the Roman general; who, besides, desired the messenger to tell the King, “not to be too much dejected.” This expression gave much offence, particularly to the Ætolians, who were become very assuming, and who complained, that “the general was quite altered by success. Before the battle, he was accustomed to transact all business, whether great or small, in concert with the allies; but they had, now, no share in any of his counsels; he conducted all affairs entirely by his own judgment; and was even seeking an occasion of ingratiating himself personally with Philip, in order that, after the Ætolians had laboured through all hardships and difficulties of the war, the Roman might assume to himself all the merit and all the fruits of a peace.” Certain it is, that he had treated them with less respect than formerly, but they were ignorant of his motives for slighting them. They imagined that he was actuated by an expectation of presents from the King, though he was of a spirit incapable of yielding to a passion of that kind; but he was, with good reason, displeased at the Ætolians, on account of their insatiable greediness for plunder, and of their arrogance in assuming to themselves the honour of the victory—a claim so ill founded, as to offend the ears of all who heard it. Besides he foresaw, that, if Philip were removed out of the way, and the strength of the kingdom of Macedonia entirely broken, the Ætolians would hold the place of masters of Greece. For these reasons, on many occasions, he took pains to lessen their importance and reputation in the judgment of the other states.

XII. A truce for fifteen days was granted to the Macedonians, and a conference with the King appointed. Before the day arrived on which this was to be held, the Roman Edition: current; Page: [353] general called a council of the allies, and desired their opinions respecting the terms of peace, proper to be prescribed. Amynander, King of Athamania, delivered his opinion in a few words; that “the conditions of peace ought to be adjusted in such a manner, as that Greece might have sufficient power, even without the interference of the Romans, to maintain the peace, and also its own liberty.” The sentiments delivered by the Ætolians were more harsh; for, after a few introductory observations on the justice and propriety of the Roman general’s conduct, in communicating his plans of peace to those who had acted with him as allies in the war, they insisted, that “he was utterly mistaken, if he supposed that he could leave the peace with the Romans, or the liberty of Greece, on a permanent footing, unless he deprived Philip, either of his life, or of the throne; both which he could easily accomplish, if he chose to pursue his present success.” Quintius, in reply, said, that “the Ætolians, in giving such advice, attended not either to the maxims of the Roman policy, or to the consistency of their own conduct. For, in all the former councils and conferences, wherein the conditions of peace were discussed, they never once urged the pushing of the war to the utter ruin of the Macedonian: and, as to the Romans, besides that they had, from the earliest periods, observed the maxim of sparing the vanquished, they had lately given a signal proof of their clemency in the peace granted to Hannibal and the Carthaginians. But, not to insist on the case of the Carthaginians, how often had the confederates met Philip himself in conference, yet no mention was ever made of his resigning his kingdom: and, because he had been defeated in battle, was that a reason that their animosity should become implacable? Against an armed foe, men ought to engage with hostile resentment; towards the vanquished, he that showed most clemency, showed the greatest spirit. The Kings of Macedonia were thought to Edition: current; Page: [354] be dangerous to the liberty of Greece. Suppose that kingdom and nation extirpated, the Thracians, Illyrians, and, in time, the Gauls, (nations uncivilized and savage,) would pour themselves into Macedonia first, and then into Greece. He therefore warned them, not, by removing inconveniencies which lay nearest, to open a passage to others greater and more grievous.” Here he was interrupted by Phæneas, prætor of the Ætolians, who called on the assembly to remember the warning he gave them: that “if Philip escaped now, he would soon raise a new and more dangerous war.” On which Quintius said,—“Cease wrangling, when you ought to deliberate. The peace shall not be incumbered with such conditions as will leave it in his power to raise a war.”

XIII. The convention was then adjourned; and, next day, the King came to the pass at the entrance of Tempè, the appointed place of meeting; and the third day following was fixed for introducing him to a full assembly of the Romans and allies. On this occasion Philip, with great prudence, avoided the mention of any of those particulars, without which peace could not be obtained; and he declared, that he was ready to comply with all the articles which, in the former conference, were either prescribed by the Romans or demanded by the allies; and to leave all other matters to the determination of the senate. Although he seemed to have hereby precluded every objection, even from the most inveterate of his enemies, yet, all the rest remaining silent, Phæneas, the Ætolian, said to him,—“What! Philip, do you at last restore to us Pharsalus and Larissa, with Cremaste, Echinus, and Thebes in Phthiotis?” Philip answered, that “he would give no obstruction to their retaking the possession of them.” On which a dispute arose between the Roman general and the Ætolians about Thebes; for Quintius affirmed, that it became the property of the Roman people by the laws of war: because, when, before the commencement Edition: current; Page: [355] of hostilities, he marched his army thither, and invited the inhabitants to friendship; they, although at full liberty to renounce the King’s party, yet preferred an alliance with Philip to one with Rome. Phæneas alleged, that, in consideration of their being confederates in the war, it was reasonable, that whatever the Ætolians possessed before it began, should be restored; and that, besides, there was, in the first treaty, a provisional clause of that purport, by which the spoils of war, of every kind that could be carried or driven, were to belong to the Romans; the lands and captured cities to the Ætolians: “Yourselves,” replied Quintius, “annulled the conditions of that treaty, when ye deserted us, and made peace with Philip; but, supposing it still remained in force, yet that clause could affect only captured cities. Now, the states of Thessaly submitted to us by a voluntary act of their own.”—These words were heard by the allies with universal approbation; but to the Ætolians they were highly displeasing at the present, and proved afterwards the cause of a war, and of many great disasters attending it. The terms settled with Philip were, that he should give his son Demetrius, and some of his friends, as hostages; should pay two hundred talents*; and send ambassadors to Rome, to adjust the other articles; for which purpose there should be a cessation of arms for four months. An engagement was entered into, that, in case the senate should refuse to conclude a treaty, his money and hostages should be returned to him. We are told, that one of the principal reasons which made the Roman general wish to expedite the conclusion of a peace, was, that he had received certain information of Antiochus intending to commence hostilities, and to pass over into Europe.

XIV. About the same time, and, as some writers say, on the same day, the Achæans defeated Androsthenes, the King’s Edition: current; Page: [356] commander, in a general engagement near Corinth. Philip, intending to use this city as a citadel, to awe the states of Greece, had invited the principal inhabitants to a conference, under pretence of settling with them the number of horsemen which the Corinthians could supply towards the war, and these he detained as hostages. Besides the force already there, consisting of five hundred Macedonians, and eight hundred auxiliaries of various kinds, he had sent thither one thousand Macedonians, one thousand two hundred Illyrians, and of Thracians and Cretans (for these served in both the opposite armies), eight hundred. To these were added Bœotians, Thessalians, and Acarnanians, to the amount of one thousand, all carrying bucklers; with as many of the young Corinthians themselves, as filled up the number of six thousand effective men,—a force which inspired Androsthenes with such confidence, as to wish for a meeting with the enemy in the field. Nicostratus, prætor of the Achæans, was at Sicyon, with two thousand foot and one hundred horse; but, seeing himself so inferior, both in the number and kind of troops, he did not go outside the walls: the King’s forces, in various excursions, ravaged the lands of Pellene, Phliasus, and Cleone. At last, reproaching the enemy with cowardice, they passed over into the territory of Sicyon, and, sailing round Achaia, wasted the whole coast. As the enemy, while thus employed, spread themselves about too widely, and too carelessly (the usual consequence of too much confidence), Nicostratus conceived hopes of attacking them by surprise. He therefore sent secret directions to all the neighbouring states, as to what day, and what number from each state, should assemble in arms at Apelaurus, a place in the territory of Stymphalia. All being in readiness at the time appointed, he marched thence immediately: and, without communicating his intentions to any one, came by night through the territory Edition: current; Page: [357] of the Phliasians to Cleone. He had with him five thousand foot, of whom * * * * *† were light-armed, and three hundred horse; with this force he waited there, having despatched scouts to watch on what quarter the enemy should make their irregular inroads.

XV. Androsthenes, utterly ignorant of all these proceedings, left Corinth, and encamped on the Nemea, a river running between the confines of Corinth and Sicyon. Here, dismissing one half of his troops, he divided the remainder into three parts, and ordered all the cavalry of each part to march in separate divisions, and ravage, at the same time, the territories of Pellene, Sicyon, and Phliasus. Accordingly, the three divisions set out by different roads. As soon as Nicostratus received intelligence of this at Cleone, he instantly sent forward a numerous detachment of mercenaries, to seize a strong pass at the entrance into the territory of Corinth; and he himself quickly followed, with his troops in two columns, the cavalry proceeding before the head of each, as advanced guards. In one column, marched the mercenary soldiers and light-infantry; in the other, the shield-bearers of the Achæans, and other states, who composed the principal strength of the army. Both infantry and cavalry were now within a small distance of the camp, and some of the Thracians attacked parties of the enemy, who were straggling and scattered over the country, when the sudden alarm reached their tents. The commander, there, was thrown into the utmost perplexity; for, having never had a sight of the Achæans, except once or twice on the hills before Sicyon, when they did not venture down into the plains, he had never imagined that they would come so far as Cleone. He ordered the stragglers to be recalled by sound of trumpet; commanded the soldiers to take arms with all haste; and, marching Edition: current; Page: [358] out at the head of thin battalions, drew up his line on the bank of the river. His other troops, having scarcely had time to be collected and formed, did not withstand the enemy’s first onset: but the Macedonians had attended their standards in greater numbers, and now kept the battle a long time doubtful. At length, being left exposed by the flight of the rest, and pressed by two bodies of the enemy on different sides, by the light-infantry on their flank, and by the shield-bearers and targeteers in front, and seeing victory declare against them, they at first gave ground; soon after, being vigorously pushed, they turned their backs; and, most of them throwing away their arms, and having lost all hope of defending their camp, made the best of their way to Corinth. Nicostratus sent the mercenaries in pursuit; and the auxiliary Thracians against the party employed in ravaging the lands of Sicyon: both of which detachments slew great numbers, greater almost than were slain in the battle itself. Of those who had been ravaging Pellene and Phthius, some, returning to their camp, ignorant of all that had happened, and without any regular order, fell in with the advanced guards of the enemy, where they expected their own. Others, from the bustle which they perceived, suspecting the cause, fled and dispersed themselves in such a manner, that, as they wandered up and down, they were cut off by the very peasants. There fell, on that day, one thousand five hundred: three hundred were made prisoners. The great fears, under which all Achaia had hitherto laboured, were thus removed.

XVI. Before the battle at Cynoscephalæ, Lucius Quintius had invited to Corcyra some chiefs of the Acarnanians, the only state in Greece which had continued to maintain its alliance with the Macedonians; and in concert with them, laid some kind of scheme for a change of measures. Two causes principally, had retained them in friendship with the King: one was a principle of honour, natural to that nation; the Edition: current; Page: [359] other, their fear and hatred of the Ætolians. A general assembly was summoned to meet at Leucas; but neither did all the states of Acarnania come thither, nor were those who did attend, agreed in opinion. However, the magistrates and leading men prevailed so far, as to get a decree passed, on the authority of a majority of those present, for joining in alliance with the Romans. This gave great offence to those who had not been present; and, in this ferment of the nation, Androcles and Echedemus, two men of distinction among the Acarnanians, being employed by Philip, gained so much influence as to prevail on the assembly, not only to repeal the decree for an alliance with Rome, but also to condemn, as guilty of treason, Archesilaus and Bianor, both men of the first rank in Acarnania, who had been the advisers of that measure; and to deprive Zeuxidas, the prætor, of his office, for having put it to the vote. The persons condemned took a course apparently desperate, but successful in the issue: for, while their friends advised them to yield to the times, and withdraw to Corcyra, to the Romans, they resolved to present themselves to the multitude; and either, by that act, to mollify their resentment, or endure whatever might befall them. They came, accordingly, into a full assembly; on which, at first, a murmur arose, expressive of surprise; but presently silence took place, partly from respect to their former dignity, partly from commiseration of their present situation. They were even indulged with the liberty of speaking. At first, they addressed the assembly in a suppliant manner; but, in the progress of their discourse, when they came to refute the charges made against them, they spoke with that degree of confidence which innocence inspires. At last, they even ventured to utter some complaints, and to charge the proceedings against them with injustice and cruelty; this had such an effect on the minds of all present, that, with one consent, they annulled all the decrees Edition: current; Page: [360] passed against them. Nevertheless, they came to a resolution, to renounce the friendship of the Romans, and return to the alliance with Philip.

XVII. These decrees were passed at Leucas, the capital of Acarnania, the place where all the states usually met in council. As soon, therefore, as the news of this sudden change reached the lieutenant-general Flamininus, in Corcyra, he instantly set sail with the fleet for Leucas; and coming to an anchor at Heræas, advanced thence towards the walls with every kind of machine used in the attacking of cities; supposing that the first appearance of danger might bend the minds of the inhabitants to submission. But seeing no prospect of effecting any thing, except by force, he began to erect towers, and to bring up the battering rams and other engines to the walls. The whole of Acarnania, being situated between Ætolia and Epirus, faces towards the west and the Sicilian sea. Leucadia, now an island, separated from Acarnania by a shallow streight, and which is the work of art, was then a peninsula, united on its eastern side to Acarnania by a narrow isthmus: this isthmus was about five hundred paces in length, and in breadth not above one hundred and twenty. At the entrance of this narrow neck stands Leucas, stretching up part of a hill which faces the east and Acarnania: the lower part of the town is level, lying along the sea, which divides Leucadia from Acarnania. Thus it lies open to attacks, both from the sea and from the land; for the channel is more like a marsh than a sea, and all the adjacent ground has a depth which renders the construction of works easy. In many places, therefore, at once, the walls were either undermined, or demolished by the ram. But all the advantages which the nature of the place afforded to the besiegers, were amply counterbalanced by the invincible spirit of the besieged: night and day they employed themselves busily in repairing the shattered parts of the wall; and, stopping up Edition: current; Page: [361] the breaches that were made, fought the enemy with great spirit, and showed a wish to defend the walls by their arms rather than themselves by the walls. And they would certainly have protracted the siege to a length unexpected by the Romans, had not some exiles of Italian birth, who resided in Leucas, admitted a band of soldiers into the citadel: notwithstanding which, when those troops ran down from the higher ground with great tumult and uproar, the Leucadians, drawing up in a body in the Forum, withstood them for a considerable time in regular fight. Meanwhile, the walls were scaled in many places; and the besiegers, climbing over the rubbish, entered the town through the breaches. And now the lieutenant-general himself surrounded the combatants with a powerful force. Being thus hemmed in, many were slain, the rest laid down their arms, and surrendered to the conqueror. In a few days after, on hearing of the battle at Cynoscephalæ, all the states of Acarnania made their submission to the lieutenant-general.

XVIII. About this time, fortune depressing the same party in every quarter at once, the Rhodians, in order to recover from Philip the tract on the continent called Piræa, which had been in possession of their ancestors, sent thither their prætor, Pausistratus, with eight hundred Achæan foot, and about one thousand nine hundred men, made up of auxiliaries of various nations. These were Gauls, Nisuetans, Pisuetans, Tamians, Areans from Africa, and Laodicenians from Asia. With this force Pausistratus seized by surprise Tendeba, in the territory of Stratonice, a place exceedingly convenient for his purpose. A reinforcement of one thousand Achæan foot, and one hundred horse, called out for the same expedition, came up at the very time, under a commander called Theoxenus. Dinocrates, the King’s general, with design to recover the fort, marched his army first to Tendeba, and then to another fort called Astragon, which also stood in the territory Edition: current; Page: [362] of Stratonice. Then, calling in all the garrisons, which were scattered in many different places, and the Thessalian auxiliaries from Stratonice itself, he proceeded to Alabanda, where the enemy lay. The Rhodians were no way averse from a battle, and the camps being pitched near each other, both parties immediately came into the field. Dinocrates placed five hundred Macedonians on his right wing, and the Agrians on his left; the centre he formed of the troops which he had drawn together out of the garrisons of the forts; these were mostly Carians; and he covered the flanks with the cavalry, and the Cretan and Thracian auxiliaries. The Rhodians had on the right wing the Achæans; on the left mercenary soldiers; and in the centre a chosen band of infantry, a body of auxiliaries composed of troops of various nations. The cavalry, and what light-infantry they had, were posted on the wings. During that day both armies remained on the banks of a rivulet, which ran between them, and, after discharging a few javelins, they retired into their camps. Next day, being drawn up in the same order, they fought a more obstinate battle than could have been expected, considering the numbers engaged; for there were not more than three thousand infantry on each side, and about one hundred horse: but they were not only on an equality with respect to numbers, and the kind of arms which they used, but they also fought with equal spirit, and equal hopes. First, the Achæans, crossing the rivulet, made an attack on the Agrians; then the whole line passed the river, almost at full speed. The fight continued doubtful a long time: the Achæans, one thousand in number, drove back the one thousand eight hundred Agrians. Then the whole centre gave way. On their right wing, composed of Macedonians, no impression could be made, so long as their phalanx preserved its order, each man clinging as it were to another: but when, in consequence of their flank being left exposed, they endeavoured to Edition: current; Page: [363] turn their spears against the enemy, who were advancing upon that side, they immediately broke their ranks. This first caused disorder among themselves; they then turned their backs, and at last, throwing away their arms, and flying with precipitation, made the best of their way to Bargylii. To the same place Dinocrates also made his escape. The Rhodians continued the pursuit as long as the day lasted, and then retired to their camp. There is every reason to believe, that, if the victors had proceeded with speed to Stratonice, that city would have been gained without a contest; but the opportunity for effecting this was neglected, and the time wasted, in taking possession of the forts and villages in Peræa. In the mean time, the courage of the troops in garrison, at Stratonice revived, and, shortly after, Dinocrates, with the troops which had escaped from the battle, came into the town, which, after that, was besieged and assaulted without effect; nor could it be reduced until a long time after that, when Antiochus took it. Such were the events that took place in Thessaly, in Achaia, and in Asia, all about the same time.

XIX. Philip was informed that the Dardanians, expecting to make an easy prey of his kingdom, after the many shocks it had suffered, had passed the frontiers, and were spreading devastation through the upper parts; on which, though he was hard pressed in almost every quarter of the globe, Fortune on all occasions defeating his measures, and those of his friends, yet, thinking it more intolerable than death to be expelled from the possession of Macedonia, he made hasy levies through the cities of his dominions; and, with six thousand foot and five hundred horse, surprised and defeated the enemy near Stobi in Pæonia. Great numbers were killed in the fight, and greater numbers of those who were scattered about in quest of plunder. As to such as found a road open for flight, they never thought of trying the chance of an engagement, but hastened back to their own country. After Edition: current; Page: [364] this enterprise, executed with a degree of success beyond what he met in the rest of his attempts, and which raised the drooping courage of his people, he retired to Thessalonica. Seasonable as was the termination of the Punic war, in extricating the Romans from the danger of a quarrel with Philip, the recent triumph over Philip happened still more opportunely, when Antiochus, in Syria, was almost ready to commence hostilities. For besides that it was easier to wage war against them separately than against their combined strength, a violent insurrection had, a little before this time, broke out in Spain. Antiochus, though he had in the preceding summer reduced under his power all the states in Cœlesyria belonging to Ptolemy, and retired into winter-quarters at Antioch, yet allowed himself no rest. For resolving to exert the whole strength of his kingdom, he collected a most powerful force, both naval and military; and in the beginning of spring, sending forward by land his two sons, Ardues and Mithridates, at the head of the army, with orders to wait for him at Sardis, he himself set out by sea with a fleet of one hundred decked ships, besides two hundred lighter vessels, barks and fly-boats, designing to attempt the reduction of all the cities under the dominion of Ptolemy along the whole coast of Caria and Cilicia; and, at the same time, to send troops and ships to the assistance of Philip, in the then subsisting war.

XX. The Rhodians have signalized their faithful attachment to the Roman people, and their affection for the whole race of the Greeks, by many honourable exertions, both on land and sea; but never was their gallantry more eminently conspicuous than on this occasion, when, nowise dismayed at the formidable magnitude of the impending war, they sent ambassadors to tell the King, that if he attempted to bring his forces beyond Nephelis, which is a promontory of Cilicia, remarkable for being a boundary mentioned in an old treaty Edition: current; Page: [365] with the Athenians, they would meet him there and oppose him, not out of any ill-will, but because they would not suffer him to join Philip and obstruct the Romans, who were restoring liberty to Greece. At this time Antiochus was pushing on the siege of Coracesium by regular approaches; for, after he had got possession of Zephyrium, Solæ, Aphrodisias, and Corycus, and, doubling Anemurium, another promontory of Cilicia, had taken Selinus; when all these, and the other fortresses on that coast, had, either through fear or inclination, submitted without resistance, Coracesium shut its gates, and gave him a delay which he did not expect. Here he gave audience to the Rhodians, and although the purport of their embassy was such as might kindle passion in the breast of a King, yet he stifled his resentment, and answered, that “he would send ambassadors to Rhodes, and would give them instructions to renew the old treaties, made by him and his predecessors, with that state; and to assure them, that they need not be alarmed at his approach; that it would be in no respect detrimental or injurious either to them or their allies; for he was determined not to violate the friendship subsisting between himself and the Romans: and of this, his own late embassy to that people, and the senate’s answers and decrees, so honourable to him, ought to be deemed sufficient proof.” Just at that time his ambassadors happened to return from Rome, where they had been heard and dismissed with courtesy, as the juncture required; the event of the war with Philip being yet uncertain. While the King’s ambassadors were haranguing to the above purpose, in an assembly of the people at Rhodes, a courier arrived with an account of the battle of Cynoscephalæ having finally decided the fate of the war. In consequence of this intelligence, the Rhodians, now freed from all apprehensions of danger from Philip, resolved to oppose Antiochus with their fleet. Nor did they neglect another object that required their Edition: current; Page: [366] attention; the protection of the freedom of the cities in alliance with Ptolemy, which were threatened with war by Antiochus. For, some they assisted with men, others by forewarning them of the enemy’s designs; by which means, they enabled the Cauneans, Mindians, Halicarnassians, and Samians, to preserve their liberty. It were needless to attempt enumerating all the transactions, as they occurred in that quarter, when I am scarcely equal to the task of recounting those which immediately concern the war in which Rome was engaged.

XXI. At this time King Attalus, having fallen sick at Thebes, and been carried thence to Pergamus, died at the age of seventy-one, after he had reigned forty-four years. To this man Fortune had given nothing which could lead him to form pretensions to a throne, except riches. By a prudent, and, at the same time, a splendid use of these, he begat, in himself first, and then in others, an opinion, that he was not undeserving of a crown. Afterwards, having, in one battle, utterly defeated the Gauls, which nation was then the more terrible to Asia, as having but lately made its appearance there, he assumed the title of King, and ever after supported a spirit equal to the dignity of the station. He governed his subjects with the most perfect justice, and was singularly faithful to his engagements with his allies, gentle and bountiful to his friends; his wife and four sons survived him; and he left his government established on such solid and firm foundations, that the possession of it descended to the third generation. While this was the posture of affairs in Asia, Greece, and Macedonia, the war with Philip being scarcely ended, and the peace certainly not yet perfected, a desperate insurrection took place in the Farther Spain. Marcus Helvius was governor of that province. He informed the senate by letter, that “two chieftains, Colca and Luscinus, were in arms; that Colca was joined by seventeen towns, and Luscinus Edition: current; Page: [367] by the powerful cities of Cardo and Bardo; and that the people of the whole sea-coast, who had not yet manifested their disposition, were ready to rise on the first motion of their neighbours.” On this letter being read by Marcus Sergius, city prætor, the senate decreed, that, as soon as the election of prætors should be finished, the one to whose lot the government of Spain fell, should, without delay, consult the senate respecting the commotions in that province.

XXII. About the same time the consuls came home to Rome, and, on their holding a meeting of the senate in the temple of Bellona, and demanding a triumph, in consideration of their successes against the enemy, Caius Atinius Labeo, and Caius Ursanius, plebeian tribunes, insisted, that “they should propose their claims of a triumph separately, for they would not suffer the question to be put on both jointly, lest equal honours might be conferred where the merits were unequal.” Minucius urged, that they had been both appointed to the government of one province, Italy; and that, through the course of their administration, his colleague and himself had been united in sentiments and in counsels; to which Cornelius added, that, when the Boians were passing the Po, to assist the Insubrians and Cænomanians against him, they were forced to return to defend their own country, from Minucius ravaging their towns and lands. In reply the tribunes acknowledged, that the services performed in the war by Cornelius were so great, that “no more doubt could be entertained respecting his triumph, than respecting the praise to be given to the immortal gods.” Nevertheless they insisted, that “neither he nor any other member of the community should possess such power and influence as to be able, after obtaining such honour for himself, to bestow the same on a colleague, who, in claiming it, had betrayed an entire want of modesty. The exploits of Quintus Minucius in Liguria were trifling skirmishes, scarcely deserving mention; and in Gaul Edition: current; Page: [368] he had lost great numbers of soldiers.” They mentioned even military tribunes, Titus Juvencius and Cneius Labeo, the plebeian tribune’s brother, who had fallen, together with many other brave men, both citizens and allies: and they asserted, that “pretended surrenders of a few towns and villages, fabricated for the occasion, had been made, without any pledge of fidelity being taken.” These altercations between the consuls and tribunes lasted two days: at last the consults, overcome by the obstinacy of the tribunes, proposed their claims separately.

XXIII. To Cneius Cornelius a triumph was unanimously decreed: and the inhabitants of Placentia and Cremona added to the applause bestowed on the consul, by returning him thanks, and mentioning, to his honour, that they had been delivered by him from a siege; and that very many of them, when in the hands of the enemy, had been rescued from captivity. Quintus Minucius just tried how the proposal of his claim would be received, and finding the whole senate averse from it, declared, that by the authority of his office of consul, and pursuant to the example of many illustrious men, he would triumph on the Alban mount. Caius Cornelius, being yet in office, triumphed over the Insubrian and Cænomanian Gauls. He produced a great number of military standards, and carried in the procession abundance of Gallic spoils in captured chariots. Many Gauls of distinction were led before his chariot, and along with them, some writers say, Hamilcar, the Carthaginian general. But what, more than all, attracted the eyes of the public, was, a crowd of Cremonians and Placentians, with caps of liberty on their heads, following his chariot. He carried in his triumph two hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred asses*, and of silver denariuses, stamped with a chariot, Edition: current; Page: [369] seventy-nine thousand*. He distributed to each of his soldiers seventy asses†, to a horseman double that sum, to a centurion triple. Quintus Minucius, consul, triumphed on the Alban mount, over the Ligurian and Boian Gauls. Although this triumph was less respectable, in regard to the place, and the fame of his exploits, and because all knew the expense was not issued from the treasury; yet, in regard of the number of standards, chariots, and spoils, it was nearly equal to the other. The amount of the money also was nearly equal. Two hundred and fifty-four thousand asses‡ were conveyed to the treasury, and of silver denariuses, stamped with a chariot, fifty-three thousand two hundred§. He likewise gave to the soldiers, horsemen, and centurions, the same sums that his colleague had given.

XXIV. After the triumph, the election of consuls came on. The persons chosen were Lucius Furius Purpureo, and Marcus Claudius Marcellus. Next day, the following were elected prætors: Quintus Fabius Buteo, Tiberius Sempronius Longus, Quintus Minucius Thermus, Manius Acilius Glabrio, Lucius Apustius Fullo, and Caius Lælius. Toward the close of this year, a letter came from Titus Quintius, with information that he had fought a pitched battle with Philip in Thessaly, and had totally defeated him. This letter was read by Sergius, the prætor, first in the senate, and then, by their direction, in a general assembly; and supplications of five days continuance were decreed on account of those successes. Soon after, arrived the ambassadors, both from Titus Quintius, and from the King. The Macedonians were conducted out of the city to the Villa Publica, where lodgings and every other accommodation were provided for them, and the senate met in the temple of Bellona. Not many words passed; for the Macedonians Edition: current; Page: [370] declared, that whatever terms the senate should prescribe, the King was ready to comply with them. It was decreed, that, conformably to ancient practice, ten ambassadors should be appointed, and that, in council with them, the general, Titus Quintius, should grant terms of peace to Philip; and a clause was added, that, in the number of these ambassadors, should be Publius Sulpicius and Publius Villius, who, in their consulships, had held the province of Macedonia. On the same day the inhabitants of Cossa presented a petition, praying, that the number of their colonists might be enlarged; and an order was accordingly passed, that one thousand should be added to the list, with a provision, that no person should be admitted into that number, who, at any time since the consulate of Publius Cornelius and Tiberius Sempronius, had acted as an enemy to the state.

XXV. This year the Roman games were exhibited in the Circus, and on the stage, by the curule ædiles, Publius Cornelius Scipio, and Cneius Manlius Vulso, with an unusual degree of splendour, and were beheld with the greater delight, in consequence of the late successes in war. They were thrice repeated entire, and the plebeian games seven times. These were exhibited by Acilius Glabrio and Caius Lælius, who also, out of the money arising from fines, erected three brazen statues, to Ceres, Liber, and Libera.Y.R.556. bc196. Lucius Furius and Marcus Claudius Marcellus, having entered on the consulship, when the distribution of the provinces came to be agitated, and the senate appeared disposed to vote Italy the province of both, petitioned for liberty to put that of Macedonia to the lot along with Italy. Marcellus, who of the two was the more eager for that province; by assertions, that the peace was merely a feigned one, and that if the army were withdrawn thence, the King would renew the war, caused some perplexity in the minds of the senate. The consuls would probably Edition: current; Page: [371] have carried the point, had not Quintus Marcius Rex, and Caius Atinius Labeo, plebeian tribunes, declared, that they would enter their protest, unless they were allowed, before any farther proceeding, to take the sense of the people, whether it was their will and order that peace be concluded with Philip. The question was put to the people in the Capitol, and every one of the thirty-five tribes voted on the affirmative side. The public found the greater reason to rejoice at the ratification of the peace with Macedonia, as melancholy news was brought from Spain; and a letter was made public, announcing that “the prætor, Caius Sempronius Tuditanus, had been defeated in battle in the Hither Spain; that his army had been utterly routed and dispersed, and several men of distinction slain in the fight. That Tuditanus, having been grievously wounded, and carried out of the field, expired soon after.” Italy was decreed the province of both consuls, in which they were to employ the same legions which the preceding consuls had; and they were to raise four new legions, that two might be in readiness to go wherever the senate should direct. Titus Quintius Flamininus was ordered to continue in the government of his province, with the army of two legions, then on the spot. The former prolongation of his command was deemed sufficient.

XXVI. The prætors then cast lots for their provinces. Lucius Apustius Fullo obtained the city jurisdiction; Manius Acilius Glabrio, that between natives and foreigners; Quintus Fabius Buteo, Farther Spain; Quintius Minucius Thermus, Hither Spain; Caius Lælius, Sicily; Tiberius Sempronius Longus, Sardinia. To Quintus Fabius Buteo and Quintus Minucius, to whom the government of the two Spains had fallen, it was decreed, that the consuls, out of the four legions raised by them, should give one each, together with four thousand foot and three hundred horse of the allies Edition: current; Page: [372] and Latine confederates; and those prætors were ordered to repair to their provinces forthwith. This war in Spain broke out in the fifth year after the former had been ended, together with the Punic war. The Spaniards, now, for the first time, had taken arms in their own name, unconnected with any Carthaginian commander. Before the consuls stirred from the city, however, they were ordered, as usual, to expiate the reported prodigies. Lucius Julius Sequestris, on the road to Sabinia, was killed by lightning, together with his horse. The temple of Feronia, in the Capenatian district, was struck by lightning. At the temple of Moneta, the shafts of two spears took fire and burned. A wolf, coming in through the Esquiline gate, and running through the most frequented part of the city, down into the Forum, passed thence through the Tuscan and Mælian streets; and scarcely receiving a stroke, made its escape out of the Capenian gate. These prodigies were expiated with victims of the larger kinds.

XXVII. About the same time Cneius Cornelius Lentulus, who had held the government of Hither Spain before Sempronius Tuditanus, entered the city in ovation, pursuant to a decree of the senate, and carried in the procession one thousand five hundred and fifteen pounds weight of gold, twenty thousand of silver; and in coin, thirty-four thousand five hundred and fifty denariuses.* Lucius Stretinius, from the Farther Spain, without making any pretensions to a triumph, carried into the treasury fifty thousand pounds weight of silver: and out of the spoils taken, built two arches in the cattle-market, at the fronts of the temple of Fortune and Mother Matuta, and one in the great Circus; and on these arches placed gilded statues. These were the principal occurrences during the winter. At this time Quintius was in Edition: current; Page: [373] quarters at Elatia. Among many requests, made to him by the allies, was that of the Bœotians, namely that their countrymen, who had served in the army with Philip, might be restored to them. With this Quintius readily complied; not because he thought them very deserving, but, at a time when there was reason to be apprehensive of the designs of Antiochus, he judged it adviseable to conciliate every state in favour of the Roman interest. It quickly appeared how very little gratitude the Bœotians felt on the occasion: for they not only sent persons to give thanks to Philip, for the restoration of their fellows, as if that compliment had been paid to him by Quintius and the Romans; but, at the next election, raised to the office of Bœotarch a man named Brachyllas, for no other reason than because he had been commander of the Bœotians serving in the army of Philip; passing by Zeuxippus, Pisistratus and the others, who had promoted the alliance with Rome. These men were both offended at the present, and alarmed about the future consequences: for if such things were done when a Roman army lay almost at their gates, what would become of them when the Romans should have gone away to Italy, and Philip, from a situation so near, should support his own associates, and vent his resentment on those of the opposite party.

XXVIII. It was resolved, while they had the Roman army near at hand, to take off Brachyllas, who was the principal leader of the faction which favoured the King; and they chose an opportunity for the deed, when, after having been at a public feast, he was returning to his house, inebriated, and accompanied by some of his debauched companions, who, for the sake of merriment, had been admitted to the crowded entertainment. He was surrounded and assassinated by six men, of whom three were Italians and three Ætolians. His companions fled, crying out for help; and a great uproar ensued among the people, who ran up and down, Edition: current; Page: [374] through all parts of the city, with lights: but the assassins made their escape through the nearest gate. At the first dawn, a full assembly was called together in the theatre, by the voice of a crier, as if some discovery had been made. Many openly clamoured that Brachyllas was killed by those detestable wretches who accompanied him; but their private conjectures pointed to Zeuxippus, as author of the murder. It was resolved, however, that those who had been in company with him should be seized, and examined. While they were under examination, Zeuxippus, with his usual composure, came into the assembly, for the purpose of averting the charge from himself; yet said, that people were mistaken in supposing that so daring a murder was the act of such effeminate wretches as those who were charged with it, urging many plausible arguments to the same purpose. By which behaviour he led several to believe, that, if he were conscious of guilt, he would never have presented himself before the multitude, or, uncalled upon, have made any mention of the murder. Others were convinced that he intended, by thus pushing impudently forward, to throw off all suspicion from himself. Soon after, those men who were innocent were put to the torture; and, as they knew the universal opinion, they gave information conformable to it, naming Zeuxippus and Pistratus; but they produced no proof to show that they knew any thing of the matter. Zeuxippus, however, accompanied by a man named Stratonidas, fled by night to Tanagra; alarmed by his own conscience rather than by the assertions of men who were privy to no one circumstance of the affair. Pisistratus, despising the informers, remained at Thebes. A slave of Zeuxippus had carried messages backwards and forwards, and had been intrusted in the management of the whole business. From this man Pisistratus dreaded a discovery; and, by that very dread, forced him, against his will, to make one. He sent a letter to Zeuxippus, Edition: current; Page: [375] desiring him to “put out of the way the slave who was privy to their crime; for he did not believe him as well qualified for the concealment of the fact as he was for the perpetration of it.” He ordered the bearer of this letter to deliver it to Zeuxippus as soon as possible; but he, not finding an opportunity of meeting him, put it into the hands of the very slave in question, whom he believed to be the most faithful to his master of any; and added, that it came from Pisistratus about business of the utmost consequence to Zeuxippus. Struck by consciousness of guilt, the slave, after promising to deliver the letter, immediately opened it; and, on reading the contents, fled in a fright to Thebes. Zeuxippus, alarmed by this his flight, withdrew to Athens, where he thought he might live in exile with greater safety. Pisistratus, after being examined several times by torture, was put to death.

XXIX. The murder, and particularly the circumstance of Zeuxippus, one of the first men of the nation, having suborned such a deed, exasperated the Thebans, and all the Bœotians, to the most rancorous animosity against the Romans. To recommence a war, they had neither strength nor a leader; but they had recourse to private massacres, and cut off many of the soldiers, some as they came to lodge in their houses, others as they travelled from one cantonment to another on various business. Some were killed on the roads by parties lying in wait in lurking places; others were seduced and carried away to inns, which were left uninhabited, and there put to death. At last they committed these crimes, not merely out of hatred, but likewise from a desire of booty; for the soldiers, on furlough, generally carried money in their purses for the purpose of trading. At first, a few at a time; afterwards, greater numbers used to be missed, until all Bœotia became notorious for those practices, and a soldier was more afraid to go beyond the bounds of the camp Edition: current; Page: [376] than into an enemy’s country. Quintius then sent deputies round the states, to make inquiry concerning the murders committed. The greatest number of foot soldiers were found about the lake called Copias; there the bodies were dug out of the mud, and drawn up out of the marsh, having had earthen jars or stones tied to them, so as to sink by the weight. Many deeds, of this sort, were discovered to have been perpetrated at Acrophia and Coronea. Quintius at first insisted that the persons guilty should be given up to him, and that for five hundred soldiers (for so many had been cut off,) the Bœotians should pay five hundred talents.* Neither of these requisitions being complied with, and the states only making verbal apologies, declaring, that none of those acts had been authorized by the public; Quintius first sent ambassadors to Athens and Achair, to satisfy the allies, that the war which he was about to make on the Bœotians, was conformable to justice and piety; and then, ordering Publius Claudius to march with one-half of the troops to Acrophia, he himself, with the remainder, invested Coronea; and these two bodies, marching by different roads from Elatia, laid waste all the country through which they passed. The Bœotions, dismayed by these losses, while every place was filled with fugitives, and while the terror became universal, sent ambassadors to the camp, who were refused admittance; and, just at this juncture, arrived the Achæans and Athenians. The Achæans had the greater influence as intercessors; and they were resolved, in case they could not procure peace for the Bœotians, to join them in the war. Through the mediation of the Achæans, however, the Bœotians obtained an audience of the Roman general; who, ordering them to deliver up the guilty, and to pay thirty talents† as a fine, granted them peace, and raised the siege.

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XXX. A few days after this, the ten ambassadors arrived from Rome, in pursuance of whose counsel, peace was granted to Philip on the following conditions: “That all the Grecian states, as well those in Asia, as those in Europe, should enjoy liberty, and their own laws: That from such of them as were in the possession of Philip, he should withdraw his garrisons, particularly from the following places in Asia; Euromus, Pedasi, Bargylii, Iassus, Myrina, Abydus; and from Thassus and Perinthus, for it was determined that these likewise should be free: That, with respect to the freedom of Cius, Quintius would write to Prusias, King of Bithynia, the resolutions of the senate, and of the ten ambassadors: That Philip should return to the Romans the prisoners and deserters, and deliver up all his decked ships, not excepting even the royal galley,—of a size almost unmanageable, being moved by sixteen banks of oars: That he should not keep more than five hundred soldiers, nor any elephant: That he should not wage war beyond the bounds of Macedonia without permission from the senate: That he should pay to the Roman people one thousand talents:* one half at present, the other by instalments, within ten years.” Valerius Antias writes, that there was imposed on him an annual tribute of four thousand pounds weight of silver, for ten years, and an immediate payment of twenty thousand pounds weight. The same author says, that an article was expressly inserted, that he should not make war on Eumenes, Attalus’s son, who had lately come to the throne. For the performance of these conditions hostages were received, among whom was Demetrius, Philip’s son. Valerius Antias adds, that the island of Ægina, and the elephants, were given as a present to Attalus, who was absent; to the Rhodians, Stratonice in Caria, and other cities which had been in the possession of Philip; Edition: current; Page: [378] and to the Athenians, the islands of Paros, Imbrus, Delos, and Scyros.

XXXI. While all the other states of Greece expressed their approbation of these terms of peace, the Ætolians, alone, in private murmurs, made severe strictures on the determination of the ten ambassadors. They said, “it consisted merely of an empty piece of writing, varnished over with a fallacious appearance of liberty. For why should some cities be put into the hands of the Romans without being named, while others were particularized, and ordered to be enfranchised without such consignment: unless the intent was, that those in Asia, which, from their distant situation, were more secure from danger, should be free; but those in Greece, not being specified, should be made their property: Corinth, Chalcis, and Oreum: with Eretria, and Demetrias.” Nor was this charge entirely without foundation: for there was some hesitation with respect to Corinth, Chalcis, and Demetrias; because, in the decree of the senate, in pursuance of which the ten ambassadors had been sent from Rome, all Greece and Asia, except these three, were expressly ordered to be set at liberty; but, with regard to these, ambassadors were instructed, that, whatever other measures the exigencies of the state might render expedient, the present they should determine to pursue in conformity to the public good and their own honour. Now, they had every reason to believe, that Antiochus intended, as soon as he should be able to arrange his affairs at home, to pass into Europe; and they were unwilling to let these cities, the possession of which would be so advantageous to him, lie open to his attacks. Quintius, with the ten ambassadors, sailed from Elatia to Anticyra, and thence to Corinth. Here the plans they had laid down, were discussed. Quintius frequently urged, that “every part of Greece ought to be set at liberty, if they wished to refute the cavils of the Ætolians; if they wished, that Edition: current; Page: [379] sincere affection and respect for the Roman nation should be universally entertained; or if they wished to convince the world that they had crossed the sea, with the design of liberating Greece, not of transferring the sovereignty of it from Philip to themselves.” The Macedonians alleged nothing in opposition to the arguments made use of in favour of the freedom of the cities; but “they thought it safer for those cities to remain, for a time, under the protection of Roman garrisons, than to be obliged to receive Antiochus for a master in the room of Philip.” Their final determination was, that “Corinth be restored to the Achæans, but that the Roman force should continue in the citadel; and that Chalcis and Demetrias be retained, until their apprehensions respecting Antiochus should cease.”

XXXII. The stated solemnity of the Isthmian games was at hand. These have ever been attended by very numerous meetings, for two reasons: first, out of the universal fondness entertained by the Corinthians for shows, wherein are seen trials of skill in arts of every kind, besides contests in strength and swiftness of foot; and secondly, because people can come thither from every quarter of Greece by the means of one, or other, of the two opposite seas. But on this occasion, all were led, by an eager curiosity, to learn what was, thenceforward, to be the state of Greece, and what their own condition; while many at the same time not only formed opinions within themselves, but uttered their conjectures in conversation. The Romans took their seats, as spectators; and a herald, preceded by a trumpeter, according to custom, advanced into the centre of the theatre, where notice of the commencement of the games is usually made, in a set form of words. Silence being commanded by sound of trumpet, he uttered aloud the following proclamation: the senate and people of rome, and titus quintius, their general, having subdued philip and the macedonians,Edition: current; Page: [380]do hereby order that the following states be free, independent, and ruled by their own laws: the corinthians, phocians, and all the locrians; the island of eubœa, and the magnesians; the thessalians, perrhæbians, and the achæans of phthiotis. He then read a list of all the states which had been under subjection to King Philip. The joy occasioned by hearing these words of the herald was so great, that the people’s minds were unable to conceive the matter at once. Scarcely could they believe, that they had heard them; and they looked at each other with amazement, as if all were the illusion of a dream. Each inquired of others about what immediately concerned himself. Every one being desirous, not only of hearing, but of seeing, the messenger of liberty, the herald was called out again; and he again repeated the proclamation. When they were thus assured of the reality of the joyful tidings, they raised such a shout, and clapping of hands, and repeated them so often, as clearly demonstrated, that of all earthly blessings none is more grateful to the multitude than liberty. The games were then proceeded through, with hurry; for neither the thoughts nor eyes of any attended to the exhibitions, so entirely had the single passion of joy preoccupied their minds, as to exclude the sense of all other pleasures.

XXXIII. But, when the games were finished, every one eagerly pressed towards the Roman general; so that by the crowd rushing to one spot, all wishing to come near him, and to touch his right hand, and throwing garlands and ribbands, he was in some degree of danger. He was then about thirty-three years of age; and besides the vigour of youth, the grateful sensations, excited by acknowledgments so eminently glorious to him, increased his strength. Nor did the general exultation last, only, for that day; but, through the space of many days, was continually revived by sentiments and expressions Edition: current; Page: [381] of gratitude. “There was a nation in the world,” they said, “which, at its own expense, with its own labour, and at its own risk, waged wars for the liberty of others. And this it performed, not merely for contiguous states, or near neighbours, or for countries that made parts of the same continent; but even crossed the seas for the purpose, that no unlawful power should subsist on the face of the whole earth; but that justice, right, and law, should every where have sovereign sway. By one sentence, pronounced by a herald, all the cities of Greece and Asia had been set at liberty. To have conceived hopes of this, argued a daring spirit; to have carried it into effect, was a proof of the most consummate bravery and good fortune.”

XXXIV. Quintius and the ten ambassadors then gave audience to the embassies of the several kings, nations, and states. First of all, the ambassadors of King Antiochus were called. Their proceedings, here, were nearly the same as at Rome; a mere display of words unsupported by facts. But the answer given them was not ambiguous as formerly, during the uncertainty of affairs, and before the conquest of Philip; for the King was required, in express terms, to evacuate the cities of Asia, which had been in possession either of Philip or Ptolemy; not to meddle with the free cities, or any belonging to the Greeks. Above all it was insisted on, that he should neither come himself into Europe, nor transport an army thither. The King’s ambassadors being dismissed, a general convention of the nations and states was immediately held; and the business was despatched with the greater expedition, because the resolutions of the ten ambassadors mentioned the several states by name. To the people of Orestis, a district of Macedonia, in consideration of their having been the first who came over from the side of the King, their own laws were granted. The Magnetians, Perrhæbians, and Dolopians, were likewise declared free. To the nation of the Edition: current; Page: [382] Thessalians, besides the enjoyment of liberty, the Achæan part of Phthiotis was granted, excepting Phthiotian Thebes and Pharsalus. The Ætolians, demanding that Pharsalus and Leucas should be restored to them in conformity to the treaty, were referred to the senate: but the council united to these, by authority of a decree, Phocis and Locris, places which had formerly been annexed to them. Corinth, Triphylia, and Heræa, another city of Peloponnesus, were restored to the Achæans. The ten ambassadors were inclined to give Oreum and Eretria to King Eumenes, son of Attalus; but Quintius dissenting, the matter came under the determination of the senate, and the senate declared those cities free; adding to them Carystus. Lycus and Parthinia, Illyrian states, which had been under subjection to Philip, were given to Pleuratus. Amynander was ordered to retain possession of the forts, which he had taken from Philip during the war.

XXXV. When the convention broke up, the ten ambassadors, dividing the business among them, set out by different routes to give liberty to the several cities within their respective districts. Publius Lentulus went to Bargylii; Lucius Stertinius, to Hephæstia, Thassus, and the cities of Thrace; Publius Villius and Lucius Terentius, to King Antiochus; and Cneius Cornelius to Philip. The last of these, after executing his commission with respect to smaller matters, asked Philip, whether he was disposed to listen to advice, not only useful but highly salutary. To which the king answered that he was, and would give him thanks besides, if he mentioned any thing conducive to his advantage. He then earnestly recommended to him, since he had obtained peace with the Romans, to send ambassadors to Rome to solicit their alliance and friendship; lest, in case of Antiochus pursuing any hostile measures, he might be suspected of lying in wait, and watching the opportunity of the times for reviving hostilities. This meeting with Philip Edition: current; Page: [383] was at Tempè in Thessaly; and on his answering that he would send ambassadors without delay, Cornelius proceeded to Thermopylæ, where all the states of Greece are accustomed to meet in general assembly on certain stated days. This is called the Pylaick assembly. Here he admonished the Ætolians, in particular, constantly and firmly to maintain the friendship established between them and the Romans; but some of the principal of these interrupted him with complaints, that the disposition of the Romans towards their nation was not the same since the victory, that it had been during the war; while others censured them with greater boldness, and in a reproachful manner asserted, that, “without the aid of the Ætolians, the Romans could neither have conquered Philip, nor even have made good their passage into Greece.” To such discourses the Roman forbore giving an answer, lest the matter might end in an altercation, and only said, that if they sent ambassadors to Rome, every thing that was reasonable would be granted to them. Accordingly, they passed a decree for such mission, agreeable to his direction. In this manner was the war with Philip concluded.

XXXVI. While these transactions passed in Greece, Macedonia, and Asia, Etruria was near being converted into a scene of hostilities by a conspiracy among the slaves. To examine into and suppress this, Manius Acilius the prætor, whose province was the administration of justice between natives and foreigners, was sent at the head of one of the two city legions. A number of them, who were by this time formed in a body, he reduced by force of arms, killing and taking many. Some, who had been the ringleaders of the conspiracy, he scourged with rods, and then crucified; some he returned to their masters. The consuls repaired to their provinces. Just as Marcellus entered the frontiers of the Boians, and while his men were fatigued with marching the whole length of the day, and as he was pitching his camp on a rising ground, Corolam, a chieftain of the Boians, attacked Edition: current; Page: [384] him with a very numerous force, and slew three thousand of his men; several persons of distinction fell in that tumultuary engagement: amongst others, Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus and Marcus Junius Silanus, præfects of the allies; and Aulus Ogulnius and Publius Claudius, military tribunes in the second legion. The Romans, notwithstanding, had courage enough to finish the fortification of their camp, and to defend it, in spite of an assault made on it by the enemy, after their success in the field. Marcellus remained for some time in the same post, until the wounded were cured, and the spirits of his men revived, after such a disheartening blow. The Boians, a nation remarkably impatient of delay, and quickly disgusted at a state of inaction, separated, and withdrew to their several forts and villages. Marcellus then, suddenly crossing the Po, led his legions into the territory of Comum, where the Insubrians, after rousing the people of the country to arms, lay encamped. They attacked him on his march, and their first onset was so vigorous, as to make a considerable impression on his van. On perceiving which, and fearing lest, if his men should once give ground, they would be obliged to quit the field, he brought up a cohort of Marsians against the enemy, and ordered every troop of the Latine cavalry to charge them. The first and second charge of these having checked the fierceness of the assault, the other troops in the Roman line, resuming courage, advanced briskly on the foe. The Gauls no longer maintained the contest, but turned their backs and fled in confusion. Valerius Antias relates, that in that battle above forty thousand men were killed, five hundred and seven military standards taken, with four hundred and thirty-two chariots, and a great number of gold chains, one of which, of great weight, Claudius says, was deposited as an offering to Jupiter, in his temple in the Capitol. The camp of the Gauls was taken and plundered the same day; and the town of Comum was reduced in a Edition: current; Page: [385] few days after. In a little time, twenty-eight forts came over to the consul. There is a doubt among writers, whether the consul led his legions, first, against the Boians, or against the Insubrians; so as to determine, whether the victory obtained at Comum obliterated the disgrace of the defeat by the Boians, or if that obliterated the honour arising from the present success.

XXXVII. Soon after those matters had passed, with such variety of fortune, Lucius Furius Purpureo, the other consul, came into the country of the Boians, through the Sappinian tribe. He proceeded almost to the fort of Mutilus, when, beginning to apprehend that he might be inclosed between the Boians and Ligurians, he marched back by the road he came; and, making a long circuit, through an open and safe country, arrived at the camp of his colleague. After this junction of their forces, they over-ran the territory of the Boians, spreading devastation as far as the city of Felsina. This city, with the other fortresses, and almost all the Boians, excepting only the young men who kept arms in their hands for the sake of plunder, and were at that time skulking in remote woods, made submission. The army was then led away against the Ligurians. The Boians thought that the Romans, as supposing them at a great distance, would be the more careless in guarding their rear, and thereby afford an opportunity of attacking them unawares: with this expectation, they followed them by secret paths through the forests. They did not overtake them: and therefore, passing the Po suddenly in ships, they ravaged all the country of the Lævans and Libuans; whence, as they were returning with the spoil of the country, they fell in with the Roman army on the borders of Liguria. A battle was begun with more speed, and with greater fury, than if the parties had met with their minds prepared, and at an appointed time and place. This occurrence showed to what degree of violence anger can stimulate Edition: current; Page: [386] men: for the Romans were so intent on slaughter, that they scarcely left one of the enemy to carry the news of their defeat. On account of these successes, when the letters of the consuls were brought to Rome, a supplication for three days was decreed. Soon after, Marcellus came to Rome, and had a triumph decreed him by an unanimous vote of the senate. He triumphed, while in office, over the Insubrians and Comans. The claim of a triumph over the Boians he left to his colleague, because his own arms had been unfortunate in that country; those of his colleague successful. Large quantities of spoils, taken from the enemy, were carried in the procession, in captured chariots, and many military standards; also, three hundred and twenty thousand asses of brass*, two hundred and thirty-four thousand of silver denariuses†, stamped with a chariot. Eighty asses‡ were bestowed on each foot soldier, and thrice that value on each horseman and centurion.

XXXVIII. During that year, King Antiochus, after having spent the winter at Ephesus, took measures for reducing, under his dominion, all the cities of Asia, which had formerly been members of the empire. As to the rest, being either situated in plains, or having neither walls, arms, nor men in whom they could confide, he supposed they would, without difficulty, receive the yoke. But Smyrna and Lampsacus openly asserted their independence; yet if he complied with the claims of these, whom he feared; there would be reason to apprehend, that the rest of the cities in Ætolia and Ionia would follow the example of Smyrna; and those on the Hellespont, that of Lampsacus. Wherefore he sent an army from Ephesus to invest Smyrna; and ordered the troops, which were at Abydus, to leave there only a small garrison, and to go and lay siege to Lampsacus. Nor was force the Edition: current; Page: [387] only means that he used to bring them to submission. By sending ambassadors, to make gentle remonstrances, and reprove the rashness and obstinacy of their conduct, he endeavoured to give them hopes, that they might soon obtain the object of their wishes; but not until it should appear clearly, both to themselves and to all the world, that they had gained their liberty through the kindness of the King, and not by any violent efforts of their own. In answer to which, they said, that “Antiochus ought neither to be surprised nor displeased, if they did not very patiently suffer the establishment of their liberty to be deferred to a distant period.” He himself, with his fleet, set sail from Ephesus in the beginning of spring, and steered towards the Hellespont. His army he transported to Madytus, a city in the Chersonese, and there joined his land and sea forces together. The inhabitants having shut their gates, he invested the town; and when he was just bringing up his machines to the walls, it capitulated. This diffused such fear through the inhabitants of the other cities of the Chersonese, as induced them to submit. He then came, with the whole of his united forces, to Lysimachia; which finding deserted, and almost buried in ruins, (for the Thracians had, a few years before, taken, sacked, and burned it,) he conceived a wish to rebuild a city so celebrated, and so commodiously situated. Accordingly, extending his care to every object at once, he set about repairing the walls and houses, ransomed some of the Lysimachians who were in captivity, sought out and brought home others, who had fled and dispersed themselves through the Chersonese and Hellespontus, enrolled new colonists, whom he invited by prospects of advantages, and used every means to repeople it fully. At the same time, to remove all fear of the Thracians, he went, in person, with one half of the land forces, to lay waste the nearest provinces of Thrace; leaving the other Edition: current; Page: [388] half, and all the crews of the ships, employed in the repairs of the place.

XXXIX. About this time, Lucius Cornelius, who had been commissioned by the senate to accommodate the differences between the Kings Antiochus and Ptolemy, stopped at Selymbria; and, of the ten ambassadors, Publius Lentulus from Bargylii, and Publius Villius and Lucius Terentius, from Thassus, came to Lysimachia. Hither came, likewise, Lucius Cornelius, from Selymbria, and, a few days after, Antiochus, from Thrace. His first meeting with the ambassadors, and an invitation which he afterwards gave them, were friendly and hospitable; but, when the business of their embassy, and the present state of Asia, came to be treated of, the minds of both parties were exasperated. The Romans did not scruple to declare, that every one of his proceedings, from the time when he set sail from Syria, was displeasing to the senate; and they required restitution to be made, to Ptolemy, of all the cities which had been under his dominion. “For, as to what related to the cities, which had been in the possession of Philip, and which Antiochus, taking advantage of a season when Philip’s attention was turned to the war with Rome, had seized into his own hands, it would surely be an intolerable hardship, if the Romans were to have undergone such toils and dangers, on land and sea, for so many years, and Antiochus to appropriate to himself the prizes in dispute. But, though his coming into Asia might be passed over unnoticed by the Romans, as a matter not pertaining to them, yet when he proceeded so far, as to pass over into Europe with all his land and naval forces, how much was this short of open war with the Romans? Doubtless, had he even passed into Italy, he would deny that intention.”

XL. To this the King replied, that “for some time past he plainly perceived, that the Romans made it their business to inquire what ought to be done by King Antiochus; but Edition: current; Page: [389] how far they themselves ought to advance on land or sea they never considered. Asia was no concernment of the Romans, in any shape; nor had they any more right to inquire, what Antiochus did in Asia, than Antiochus had to inquire, what the Roman people did in Italy. With respect to Ptolemy, from whom, they said, cities had been taken, there was a friendly connection subsisting between him and Ptolemy, and he was taking measures to effect speedily a connection of affinity also; neither had he sought to acquire any spoils from the misfortunes of Philip, nor had he come into Europe against the Romans, but to recover the cities and lands of the Chersonese, which, having been the property of Lysimachus*, he considered as part of his own dominions; because, when Lysimachus was subdued, all things belonging to him became, by the right of conquest, the property of Seleucus. That, at times, when his predecessors were occupied by various cares of different kinds, Ptolemy first, and afterwards Philip, usurping the rights of others, possessed themselves of several of these places, as likewise of some of the nearest parts of Thrace, which were indubitably belonging to Lysimachus. To restore these to their ancient state, was the intent of his coming, and to build Lysimachia anew, (it having been destroyed by an inroad of the Thracians,) in order that his son, Seleucus, might have it for the seat of his empire.”

XLI. These disputes had been carried on for several days, when a rumour reached them, but without any authority, that Ptolemy was dead; which prevented the conferences coming to any issue: for both parties made a secret of their having heard it; and Lucius Cornelius, who was charged with the embassy to the two kings, Antiochus and Ptolemy, requested to be allowed a short space of time, in which he could have a meeting with the latter; because he wished to arrive in Edition: current; Page: [390] Egypt before any change of measures should take place, in consequence of the new succession to the crown: while Antiochus believed, that if such an event had really happened, Egypt would be his own. Wherefore, having dismissed the Romans, and left his son Seleucus, with the land forces, to finish the rebuilding of Lysimachia; he sailed, with his whole fleet, to Ephesus; sent ambassadors to Quintius to treat with him about an alliance; and then, coasting along the shore of Asia, proceeded to Lycia. Having learned at Pataræ, that Ptolemy was living, he dropped the design of sailing to Egypt, but nevertheless steered towards Cyprus; and, when he had passed the promontory of Chelidonium, was detained some little time in Pamphylia, near the river Eurymedon, by a mutiny among his rowers. When he had sailed thence as far as the head-lands, as they are called, of Sarus, such a dreadful storm arose as almost buried him and his whole fleet in the deep. Many ships were cast on shore; many swallowed so entirely in the sea, that not one man of their crews escaped to land. Great numbers of his men perished on this occasion; not only persons of mean rank, rowers and soldiers, but even of his particular friends in high stations. When he had collected the relics of the general wreck, being in no capacity of making an attempt on Cyprus, he returned to Seleucia, with his force greatly diminished since his departure. Here he ordered the ships to be hauled ashore, for the winter was now at hand, and proceeded to Antioch, where he intended to pass the winter.—In this posture stood the affairs of the kings.

XLII. At Rome, in this year, for the first time, were created officers called triumviri epulones;* these were Caius Licinius Lucullus, who, as tribune, had proposed the law for their creation; Publius Manlius, and Publius Porcius Læca. Edition: current; Page: [391] These triumvirs, as well as the pontiffs, were allowed by law the privilege of wearing the purple-bordered gown. The body of the pontiffs had, this year, a warm dispute with the city quæstors, Quintus Fabius Labeo and Lucius Aurelius. Money was wanted; an order having been passed for making the last payment to private persons of that which had been raised for the support of the war: and the quæstors demanded it from the augurs and pontiffs, because they had not contributed their share while the war subsisted. The priests in vain appealed to the tribunes; and the contribution was exacted for every year in which they had not paid. During the same year two pontiffs died, and others were substituted in their room: Marcus Marcellus, the consul, in the room of Caius Sempronius Tuditanus, who died a prætor in Spain; and Lucius Valerius, in the room of Marcus Cornelius Cethegus. An augur also, Quintius Fabius Maximus, died very young, before he had attained to any public office; but no augur was appointed in his place during that year. The consular election was then held, by the consul Marcellus. The persons chosen were, Lucius Valerius Flaccus and Marcus Porcius Cato. Then were elected prætors, Caius Fabricius Luscinus, Caius Atinius Labeo, Cneius Manlius Vulso, Appius Claudius Nero, Publius Manlius, and Publius Porcius Læca. The curule ædiles, Marcus Fulvius Nobilior and Caius Flaminius, made a distribution to the people of one million pecks of wheat, at the price of two asses. This corn the Sicilians had brought to Rome, out of respect to Caius Flaminius and his father; and he gave share of the credit to his colleague. The Roman games were solemnized with magnificence, and exhibited thrice entire. The plebeian ædiles, Cneius Domitius Ænobarbus and Caius Scribonius, chief curio, brought many farmers of the public pastures to trial before the people. Three of these were convicted of misbehaviour; and out of the money accruing from fines Edition: current; Page: [392] imposed on them, they built a temple of Faunus in the island. The plebeian games were exhibited for two days, and there was a feast on occasion of the games.

Y.R.557. bc195.XLIII. Lucius Valerius Flaccus and Marcus Porcius, on the day of their entering into office, consulted the senate respecting the provinces; who resolved, that “whereas the war in Spain was grown so formidable, as to require a consular army and commander; it was their opinion, therefore, that the consuls should either settle between themselves, or cast lots, for Hither Spain and Italy, as their provinces. That he, to whom Spain fell, should carry with him two legions, five thousand of the Latine confederates, and five hundred horse; together with a fleet of twenty ships of war. That the other consul should raise two legions; for these would be sufficient to maintain tranquillity in the province of Gaul, as the spirits of the Insubrians and Boians had been broken the year before.” The lots gave Spain to Cato, and Italy to Valerius. The prætors then cast lots for their provinces: to Caius Fabricius Luscinus fell the city jurisdiction; Caius Atinius Labeo obtained the foreign; Cneius Manlius Vulso, Sicily; Appius Claudius Nero, Farther Spain; Publius Porcius Læca, Pisa, in order that he might be at the back of the Ligurians; and Publius Manlius was sent into Hither Spain, as an assistant to the consul. Quintius was continued in command for the year, as apprehensions were entertained, not only of Antiochus and the Ætolians, but likewise of Nabis, tyrant of Lacedæmon; and it was ordered, that he should have two legions, for which, if there was any deficiency in their numbers, the consuls were ordered to raise recruits, and send them into Macedonia. Appius Claudius was permitted to raise, in addition to the legion which Quintius Fabius had commanded, two thousand foot, and two hundred horse. The like number of new raised foot and horse was assigned Edition: current; Page: [393] to Publius Manlius, for Hither Spain; and the legion was given to him, which had been under the command of Minucius, prætor. To Publius Porcius Læca, for Etruria, near Pisa, were decreed two thousand foot, and five hundred horse, out of the army in Gaul. Sempronius Longus was continued in command in Sardinia.

XLIV. The provinces being thus distributed, the consuls, before their departure from the city, proclaimed a sacred spring, which Aulus Cornelius Mammula, prætor, had vowed in pursuance of a vote of the senate, and an order of the people, in the consulate of Cneius Servilius and Caius Flaminius. It was celebrated twenty-one years after the vow had been made. About the same time, Caius Claudius Pulcher, son of Appius, was chosen and inaugurated into the office of augur, in the room of Quintus Fabius Maximus, who died the year before. While people, in general, wondered that so little notice was taken of Spain being in arms, a letter was brought from Quintus Minucius, announcing, that “he had fought a pitched battle with the Spanish generals, Budar and Besasis, near the town of Tura, and had gained the victory: that twelve thousand of the enemy were slain; their general, Budar, taken; and the rest routed and dispersed.” The reading of this letter allayed people’s fears with respect to Spain, where a very formidable war had been apprehended. The whole anxiety of the public was directed towards King Antiochus, especially after the arrival of the ten ambassadors. These, after relating the proceedings with Philip, and the conditions on which peace had been granted him, gave information, that “there still subsisted a war of no less magnitude to be waged with Antiochus: that he had come over into Europe with a very numerous fleet, and a powerful army; that, had not a delusive prospect, of an opportunity of invading Egypt, raised by a more delusive rumour, diverted him to another quarter, all Greece would Edition: current; Page: [394] have quickly been involved in the flames of war. Nor would even the Ætolians remain quiet, a race by nature restless, and at that time full of anger against the Romans. That, besides, there was another evil, of a most dangerous nature, lurking in the bowels of Greece: Nabis, tyrant at present of Lacedæmon, but who would soon, if suffered, become tyrant of all Greece, equalling in avarice and cruelty all the tyrants most remarkable in history. For, if he were allowed to keep possession of Argos, which served as a citadel to awe the Peloponnesus, when the Roman armies should be brought home to Italy, Greece would reap no advantage from being delivered out of bondage to Philip; because, instead of that king, who, supposing no other difference, resided at a distance, she would have for a master, a tyrant close to her side.”

XLV. On this intelligence being received, from men of such respectable authority, and who had, besides, examined into all the matters which were reported, the senate, although they deemed the business relating to Antiochus the more important, yet, as the King had, for some reason or other, gone home into Syria, they thought that the affair respecting the tyrant required more immediate consideration. After debating, for a long time, whether they should judge the grounds, which they had at present, sufficient whereon to found a decree for a declaration of war, or whether they should empower Titus Quintius to act, in the case respecting Nabis the Lacedæmonian, in such manner as he should judge conducive to the public interest; they at length invested him with full powers. For they thought the business of such a nature, that, whether expedited or delayed, it could not very materially affect the general interest of the Roman people. It was deemed more important to endeavour to discover, what line of conduct Hannibal and the Carthaginians would pursue, in case of a war breaking out with Antiochus. Persons, of the faction which opposed Hannibal, wrote continually Edition: current; Page: [395] to their several friends, among the principal men in Rome, that “messages and letters were sent by Hannibal to Antiochus, and that envoys came secretly from the King to him. That, as some wild beasts can never be tamed, so the Carthaginian’s temper was irreclaimable and implacable. That he sometimes complained, that the state was debilitated by ease and indolence, and lulled by sloth into a lethargy, from which nothing could rouse it, but the sound of arms.” These accounts were deemed probable, when people recollected the former war being not only continued, but first set on foot, by the efforts of that single man. Besides, he had, by a recent act, provoked the resentment of many men in power.

XLVI. The order of judges possessed, at that time, absolute power in Carthage; and this was owing chiefly to their holding the office during life. The property, character, and life, of every man was in their disposal. He who incurred the displeasure of one of that order, found an enemy in all of them; nor were accusers wanting, in a court where the justices were disposed to condemn. While they were in possession of this despotism, (for they did not exercise their exorbitant power with due regard to the rights of others,) Hannibal was elected prætor; and he summoned the quæstor before him. The quæstor disregarded the summons, for he was of the opposite faction; and besides, as the practice was, that, after the quæstorship, men were advanced into the order of judges, the most powerful of all, he already assumed a spirit suited to the authority which he was shortly to obtain. Hannibal, highly offended hereat, sent an officer to apprehend the quæstor; and, bringing him forth into an assembly of the people, he made heavy charges, not against him alone, but on the whole order of judges; who, in the fulness of their arrogance and power, set at nought both the magistracy and the laws. Then, perceiving that his discourse was favourably attended to, and that the conduct of those men was Edition: current; Page: [396] offensive to the interest and freedom of the lowest classes, he proposed a law, and procured it to be enacted, that “the judges should be elected annually; and that no person should hold the office two years successively.” But, whatever degree of favour he acquired among the commons, by this proceeding he roused, in a great part of the nobility, an equal degree of resentment. This was followed by another act, by which, while he served the people, he provoked personal enmity against himself. The public revenues were partly wasted through neglect, partly embezzled, and divided among some leading men and magistrates; insomuch, that there was not money sufficient for the regular annual payment of the tribute to the Romans, so that private persons seemed to be threatened with a heavy tax.

XLVII. When Hannibal had informed himself of the amount of the revenues arising from taxes and port duties, for what purposes they were issued from the treasury, how much was consumed by the ordinary expenses of the state, and how much lost by embezzlement, he asserted in an assembly of the people, that if payment were enforced of the money unapplied to public uses, the taxes might be remitted to the subjects; and that the state would be still rich enough to pay the tribute to the Romans: which assertion he proved to be true. But now those persons, who, for several years past, had maintained themselves by plundering the public, were greatly enraged; as if this were ravishing from them their own property, and not as dragging out of their hands their ill-gotten spoil. Accordingly, they laboured to draw down on Hannibal the vengeance of the Romans, who were seeking a pretext for indulging their hatred against him. A strenuous opposition was, however, for a long time made to this by Scipio Africanus, who thought it highly unbecoming the dignity of the Roman people to make themselves a party in the animosities and charges against Hannibal; to interpose Edition: current; Page: [397] the public authority among factions of the Carthaginians, not remaining content with having conquered that commander in the field, but to become as it were his prosecutors* in a judicial process, and preferring an action against him. Yet at length the point was carried, that an embassy should be sent to Carthage to represent to the senate there, that Hannibal, in concert with King Antiochus, was forming plans for kindling a war. Three ambassadors were sent, Caius Servilius, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, and Quintus Terentius Culleo. These, on their arrival, by the advice of Hannibal’s enemies, ordered, that any who inquired the cause of their coming should be told, that they came to determine the disputes subsisting between the Carthaginians and Masinissa, King of Numidia; and this was generally believed. But Hannibal was not ignorant that he was the sole object aimed at by the Romans; and that, though they had granted peace to the Carthaginians, their war against him, individually, would ever subsist with unabated rancour. He therefore determined to give way to fortune and the times; and, having already made every preparation for flight, he showed himself that day in the Forum, in order to guard against suspicion; and, as soon as it grew dark, went in his common dress to one of the gates with two attendants, who knew nothing of his intention.

XLVIII. Finding horses in readiness at a spot where he had ordered, he made a hasty journey by night through a district of the territory of Voca, and arrived, in the morning of the following day, at a castle of his own between Acholla Edition: current; Page: [398] and Thapsus. There a ship, ready fitted out and furnished with rowers, took him on board. In this manner did Hannibal leave Africa, lamenting the misfortunes of his country oftener than his own. He sailed over, the same day, to the island of Cercina, where he found in the port a number of merchant ships with their cargoes; and on landing was surrounded by a concourse of people, who came to pay their respects to him: on which he gave orders, that, in answer to any inquiries, it should be said that he was going ambassador to Tyre. Fearing, however, lest some of these ships might sail in the night to Thapsus or Acholla, and carry information of his being seen at Cercina, he ordered a sacrifice to be prepared, and the masters of the ships, with the merchants, to be invited to the entertainment, and that the sails and yards should be collected out of the ships to form a shade on shore for the company at supper, as it happened to be the middle of summer. The feast of the day was as sumptuous, and the guests as numerous, as the time and circumstances allowed, and the entertainment was prolonged, with plenty of wine, until late in the night. As soon as Hannibal saw an opportunity of escaping the notice of those who were in the harbour, he set sail. The rest were fast asleep, nor was it early, next day, when they arose, heavily sick from the preceding day’s excess; and then, when it was too late, they set about replacing the sails in the ships, and fitting up the rigging, which employed several hours. At Carthage, those who were accustomed to visit Hannibal, met, in a crowd, at the porch of his house; and, when it was publicly known, that he was not to be found, the whole multitude assembled in the Forum, eager to gain intelligence of the man who was considered as the first in the state. Some surmised that he had fled, as the case was; others, that he had been put to death through the treachery of the Romans; and there was visible in the expression of their countenances, that variety Edition: current; Page: [399] which might naturally be expected in a state divided into factions, whereof each supported a different interest. At length an account was brought, that he had been seen at Cercina.

XLIX. The Roman ambassadors represented to the council, that “proof had been laid before the senate of Rome, that formerly King Philip had been moved, principally by the instigation of Hannibal, to make war on the Roman people; and that lately, Hannibal had, besides, sent letters and messages to King Antiochus. That he was a man who would never be content, until he had excited war in every part of the globe. That such conduct ought not to be suffered to pass with impunity, if the Carthaginians wished to convince the Roman people, that none of those things were done with their consent, or with the approbation of the state.” The Carthaginians answered, that they were ready to do whatever the Romans required of them.

Hannibal, after a prosperous voyage, arrived at Tyre, where, in consideration of his illustrious character, he was received by those founders of Carthage with every demonstration of respect, as if he were a native of their country, and here he staid a few days. He then sailed to Antioch; where, hearing that the King had already left the place, he procured an interview with his son, who was celebrating the anniversary games at Daphne, and who treated him with much kindness; after which, he set sail without delay. At Ephesus he overtook the King, whose judgment was still wavering and undetermined respecting a war with Rome: but the arrival of Hannibal proved an incentive of no small efficacy to the prosecution of that design. At the same time the inclinations of the Ætolians also became unfavourable to the continuance of their alliance with Rome, in consequence of the senate having referred to Quintius their ambassadors, who demanded Pharsalus and Leucas, and some other cities, in conformity to the first treaty.

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BOOK XXXIV.

The Oppian law, respecting the dress of the women, after much debate, repealed, notwithstanding it was strenuously supported by Marcus Porcius Cato, consul. The consul’s successes in Spain. Titus Quintius Flamininus finishes the war with the Lacedæmonians and the tyrant Nabis; makes peace with them, and restores liberty to Argos. Separate seats at the public games, for the first time, appointed for the senators. Colonies sent forth. Marcus Porcius Cato triumphs on account of his successes in Spain. Farther successes in Spain against the Boians and Insubrian Gauls. Titus Quintius Flamininus having subdued Philip, King of Macedonia, and Nabis the Lacedæmonian tyrant, and restored all Greece to freedom, triumphs for three days. Carthaginian ambassadors bring intelligence of the hostile designs of Antiochus and Hannibal.

Y.R.557. bc195.I. AMID the serious concerns of so many important wars, some scarcely ended, and others impending, an incident intervened, which may seem too trivial to be mentioned; but which, through the zeal of the parties concerned, occasioned a violent contest. Marcus Fundanius and Lucius Valerius, plebeian tribunes, proposed to the people the repealing of the Oppian law. This law, Edition: current; Page: [401] which had been introduced by Caius Oppius, plebeian tribune, in the consulate of Quintus Fabius and Tiberius Sempronius, during the heat of the Punic war, enacted, that “no woman should possess more than half an ounce of gold, or wear a garment of various colours, or ride in a carriage drawn by horses, in a city, or any town, or any place, nearer thereto than one mile; except on occasion of some public religious solemnity.” Marcus and Publius Junius Brutus, plebeian tribunes, supported the Oppian law, and declared, that they would never suffer it to be repealed; while many of the nobility stood forth to argue for and against the motion proposed. The Capitol was filled with crowds, who favoured or opposed the law; nor could the matrons be kept at home, either by advice or shame, nor even by the commands of their husbands; but beset every street and pass in the city; beseeching the men as they went down to the Forum, that in the present flourishing state of the commonwealth, when the public prosperity was daily increasing, they would suffer the women so far to partake of it, as to have their former ornaments of dress restored. This throng of women increased daily, for they arrived even from the country towns and villages; and had at length the boldness to come up to the consuls, prætors, and other magistrates, to urge their request. One of the consuls, however, they found inexorable—Marcus Porcius Cato, who, in support of the law proposed to be repealed, spoke to this effect:—

II. “If, Romans, every individual among us had made it a rule to maintain the prerogative and authority of a husband with respect to his own wife, we should have less trouble with the whole sex. But now, our privileges, overpowered at home by female contumacy, are, even here in the Forum, spurned and trodden under foot; and because we are unable to withstand each separately, we now dread their collective body. I was accustomed to think it a fabulous and fictitious Edition: current; Page: [402] tale, that, in a certain island, the whole race of males was utterly extirpated by a conspiracy of the women. But the utmost danger may be apprehended equally from either sex, if you suffer cabals and secret consultations to be held: scarcely, indeed, can I determine, in my own mind, whether the act itself, or the precedent that it affords, is of more pernicious tendency. The latter of these more particularly concerns us consuls, and the other magistrates; the former, you, my fellow-citizens. For, whether the measure, proposed to your consideration, be profitable to the state or not, is to be determined by you, who are to vote on the occasion. As to the outrageous behaviour of these women, whether it be merely an act of their own, or owing to your instigations, Marcus Fundanius and Lucius Valerius, it unquestionably implies culpable conduct in magistrates. I know not whether it reflects greater disgrace on you, tribunes, or on the consuls: on you certainly, if you have brought these women hither for the purpose of raising tribunitian seditions; on us, if we suffer laws to be imposed on us by a secession of women, as was done formerly by that of the common people. It was not without painful emotion of shame, that I, just now, made my way into the Forum, through the midst of a band of women. Had I not been restrained by respect for the modesty and dignity of some individuals among them, rather than of the whole number; and been unwilling that they should be seen rebuked by a consul, I should not have refrained from saying to them, ‘What sort of practice is this, of running out into public, besetting the streets, and addressing other women’s husbands? Could not each have made the same request to her husband at home? Are your blandishments more seducing in public than in private; and with other women’s husbands than with your own? Although if females would let their modesty confine them within the limits of their own rights, it did not become you, even at Edition: current; Page: [403] home, to concern yourselves about any laws that might be passed or repealed here.’ Our ancestors thought it not proper that women should perform any, even private business, without a director; but that they should be ever under the control of parents, brothers, or husbands. We, it seems, suffer them, now, to interfere in the management of state affairs, and to thrust themselves into the Forum, into general assemblies, and into assemblies of election. For, what are they doing, at this moment, in your streets and lanes? What but arguing, some in support of the motion of tribunes; others, contending for the repeal of the law? Will you give the reins to their intractable nature, and then expect that themselves should set bounds to their licentiousness, and without your interference! This is the smallest of the injunctions laid on them by usage or the laws, all which, women bear with impatience: they long for entire liberty; nay, to speak the truth, not for liberty, but for unbounded freedom in every particular. For what will they not attempt, if they now come off victorious? Recollect all the institutions respecting the sex, by which our forefathers restrained their profligacy, and subjected them to their husbands; and yet, even with the help of all these restrictions, they can scarcely be kept within bounds. If, then, you suffer them to throw these off one by one, to tear them all asunder, and, at last, to be set on an equal footing with yourselves; can you imagine that they will be any longer tolerable? Suffer them once to arrive at an equality with you, and they will from that moment become your superiors.

III. “But, indeed, they only object to any new law being made against them: they mean to deprecate, not justice, but severity. Nay, their wish is, that a law which you have admitted, established by your suffrages, and found in the practice and experience of so many years to be beneficial, should now be repealed; and that by abolishing one law, you should Edition: current; Page: [404] weaken all the rest. No law perfectly suits the convenience of every member of the community: the only consideration is, whether, upon the whole, it be profitable to the greater part. If, because a law proves obnoxious to a private individual, it must therefore be cancelled and annulled, to what purpose is it for the community to enact laws, which those, whom they were particularly intended to comprehend, could presently repeal? Let us, however, inquire what this important affair is which has induced the matrons thus to run out into public in this indecorous manner, scarcely restraining from pushing into the Forum and the assembly of the people. Is it to solicit that their parents, their husbands, children, and brothers, may be ransomed from captivity under Hannibal? By no means: and far be ever from the commonwealth so unfortunate a situation. Yet, when such was the case, you refused this to the prayers which, upon that occasion, their duty dictated. But it is not duty, nor solicitude for their friends; it is religion that has collected them together. They are about to receive the Idæan Mother, coming out of Phrygia from Pessinus. What motive, that even common decency will allow to be mentioned, is pretended for this female insurrection? Hear the answer: That we may shine in gold and purple; that, both on festival and common days, we may ride through the city in our chariots, triumphing over vanquished and abrogated law, after having captured and wrested from you your suffrages; and that there may be no bounds to our expenses and our luxury. Often have you heard me complain of the profuse expenses of the women—often of those of the men; and that not only of men in private stations, but of the magistrates: and that the state was endangered by two opposite vices, luxury and avarice: those pests, which have ever been the ruin of every great state. These I dread the more, as the circumstances of the commonwealth grow daily more prosperous Edition: current; Page: [405] and happy: as the empire increases; as we have passed over into Greece and Asia, places abounding with every kind of temptation that can inflame the passions; and as we have begun to handle even royal treasures: for I greatly fear that these matters will rather bring us into captivity, than we them. Believe me, those statues from Syracuse made their way into this city with hostile effect. I already hear too many commending and admiring the decorations of Athens and Corinth, and ridiculing the earthen images of our Roman gods that stand on the fronts of their temples. For my part I prefer these gods,—propitious as they are, and I hope will continue, if we allow them to remain in their own mansions. In the memory of our fathers, Pyrrhus, by his ambassador Cineas, made trial of the dispositions, not only of our men, but of our women also, by offers of presents: at that time the Oppian law, for restraining female luxury, had not been made: and yet not one woman accepted a present. What, think you, was the reason? That for which our ancestors made no provision by law on this subject: there was no luxury existing which might be restrained. As diseases must necessarily be known before their remedies, so passions come into being before the laws, which prescribe limits to them. What called forth the Licinian law, restricting estates to five hundred acres, but the unbounded desire for enlarging estates? What the Cincian law, concerning gifts and presents, but that the plebeians* had become vassals and tributaries to the senate? It is not therefore in any degree surprising, that no want of the Oppian law, or of any other, to limit the expenses of the women, was felt at that time, when they refused to Edition: current; Page: [406] receive gold and purple that was thrown in their way, and offered to their acceptance. If Cineas were now to go round the city with his presents, he would find numbers of women standing in the public streets to receive them.

IV. “There are some passions, the causes or motives of which I can no way account for. To be debarred of a liberty in which another is indulged, may perhaps naturally excite some degree of shame or indignation; yet, when the dress of all is alike, what inferiority in appearance can any one be ashamed of? Of all kinds of shame, the worst, surely, is the being ashamed of frugality or of poverty; but the law relieves you with regard to both; you want only that which it is unlawful for you to have. This equalization, says the rich matron, is the very thing that I cannot endure. Why do not I make a figure, distinguished with gold and purple? Why is the poverty of others concealed under this cover of a law, so that it should be thought, that, if the law permitted, they would have such things as they are not now able to procure. Romans, do you wish to excite among your wives an emulation of this sort, that the rich should wish to have, what no other can have; and that the poor, lest they should be despised as such, should extend their expenses beyond their abilities? Be assured that when a woman once begins to be ashamed of what she ought not to be ashamed of, she will not be ashamed of what she ought. She who can, will purchase out of her own purse; she who cannot, will ask her husband. Unhappy is the husband, both he who complies with the request, and he who does not; for what he will not give himself, another will. Now, they openly solicit favours from other women’s husbands; and, what is more, solicit a law and votes. From some they obtain them; although, with regard to you, your property, or your children, you would find it hard to obtain any thing from them. If the law ceases to limit the expenses of your wife, you yourself will never be Edition: current; Page: [407] able to limit them. Do not suppose that the matter will hereafter be in the same state in which it was before the law was made on the subject. It is safer that a wicked man should never be accused, than that he should be acquitted; and luxury, if it had never been meddled with, would be more tolerable than it will be, now, like a wild beast, irritated by having been chained, and then let loose. My opinion is, that the Oppian law ought, on no account, to be repealed. Whatever determination you may come to, I pray all the gods to prosper it.”

V. After him the plebeian tribunes, who had declared their intention of protesting, added a few words to the same purport. Then Lucius Valerius, who made the motion, spoke thus in support of it:—“If private persons only had stood forth to argue for and against the proposition which we have submitted to your consideration, I, for my part, thinking enough to have been said on both sides, would have waited in silence for your determination. But since a person of most respectable judgment, the consul, Marcus Porcius, has reprobated our motion, not only by the influence of his opinion, which, had he said nothing, would carry very great weight, but also in a long and laboured discourse, it becomes necessary to say a few words in answer. He has spent more words in rebuking the matrons, than in arguing against the measure proposed; and even went so far as to mention a doubt, whether the conduct which he censured in them, arose from themselves, or from our instigation. I shall defend the measure, not ourselves: for the consul threw out those insinuations against us, rather for argument’s sake, than as a serious charge. He has made use of the terms cabal and sedition; and, sometimes, secession of the women: because the matrons had requested of you, in the public street, that, in this time of peace, when the commonwealth is flourishing and happy, you would repeal a law that was made against Edition: current; Page: [408] them during a war, and in times of distress. I know that to declaim is an easy task: that strong expressions, for the purpose of exaggeration, are easily found; and that, mild as Marcus Cato is in his disposition, and gentle in his manners, yet in his speeches he is not only vehement, but sometimes even austere. What new thing, let me ask, have the matrons done in coming out into public in a body? Have they never before appeared in public? I will turn over your own Antiquities*, and quote them against you. Hear now, how often they have done the same, and always to the advantage of the public. In the earliest period of our history, even in the reign of Romulus, when the Capitol had been taken by the Sabines, and a pitched battle was fought in the Forum, was not the fight stopped by the matrons running in between the two armies? When, after the expulsion of the Kings, the legions of the Volscians, under the command of Marcius Coriolanus, were encamped at the fifth stone, did not the matrons turn away that army, which would have overwhelmed this city? Again, when the city was taken by the Gauls, whence was the gold procured for the ransom of it? Did not the matrons, by unanimous agreement, bring it into the public treasury? In the late war, not to go back to remote antiquity, when there was a want of money, did not the widows supply the treasury? And when new gods were invited hither to the relief of our distressed affairs, did not the matrons go out in a body to the sea-shore to receive the Idæan Mother? The cases, he says, are dissimilar. It is not my purpose to produce similar instances; it is sufficient that I clear these women of having done any thing new. Now, what nobody wondered at their doing, in cases which concerned all in common, both men and women, can we wonder at their doing, in a case peculiarly affecting themselves? But what have Edition: current; Page: [409] they done? We have proud ears, truly, if, though masters disdain not the prayers of slaves, we are offended at being asked a favour by honourable women.

VI. “I come now to the question in debate, with respect to which the consul’s argument is two-fold: for, first, he is displeased at the thought of any law whatever being repealed; and then, particularly, of that law which was made to restrain female luxury. His mode of arguing, on the former head, in support of the laws in general, appeared highly becoming of a consul; and that, on the latter, against luxury, was quite conformable to the rigid strictness of his morals. Unless, therefore, I shall be able to point out to you which of his arguments, on both heads, are destitute of foundation, you may, probably, be led away by error. For while I acknowledge, that of those laws which are instituted, not for any particular time, but for eternity, on account of their perpetual utility, not one ought to be repealed; unless either experience evince it to be useless, or some state of the public affairs render it such; I see, at the same time, that those laws which particular seasons have required, are mortal (if I may use the term), and changeable with the times. Those made in peace, are generally repealed by war; those made in war, by peace; as in the management of a ship, some implements are useful in good weather, others in bad. As these two kinds are thus distinct in their nature, of which kind, do you think, is that law, which we now propose to repeal? Is it an ancient law of the kings, coeval with the city itself? Or, what is next to that, was it written in the twelve tables by the decemvirs, appointed to form a code of laws? Is it one, without which our ancestors thought that the honour of the female sex could not be preserved; and, therefore, we also have reason to fear, that, together with it, we should repeal the modesty and chastity of our females? Now, is there a man among you who does not know that this is a new law, passed Edition: current; Page: [410] more than twenty years ago, in the consulate of Quintus Fabius and Tiberius Sempronius? And as, without it, our matrons sustained, for such a number of years, the most virtuous characters, what danger is there of their abandoning themselves to luxury on its being repealed? For, if the design of passing that law was to check the passions of the sex, there would be reason to fear lest the repeal of it might operate as an incitement to them. But the real reason of its being passed, the time itself will show. Hannibal was then in Italy, victorious at Cannæ, possessed of Tarentum, of Arpi, of Capua, and seemed ready to bring up his army to the city of Rome. Our allies had deserted us. We had neither soldiers to fill up the legions, nor seamen to man the fleet, nor money in the treasury. Slaves, who were to be employed as soldiers, were purchased on condition of their price being paid to the owners, at the end of the war. The farmers of the revenues declared, that they would contract to supply corn and other matters, which the exigencies of the war required, to be paid for at the same time. We gave up our slaves to the oar, in numbers proportioned to our properties, and paid them out of our own pockets. All our gold and silver, in imitation of the example given by the senators, we dedicated to the use of the public. Widows and minors lodged their money in the treasury. We were prohibited from keeping in our houses more than a certain quantity of wrought gold or silver, or more than a certain sum of coined silver or brass. At such a time as this, were the matrons so eagerly engaged in luxury and dress, that the Oppian law was requisite to repress such practices? When the senate, because the sacrifice of Ceres had been omitted, in consequence of all the matrons being in mourning, ordered the mourning to end in thirty days. Who does not clearly see, that the poverty and distress of the state requiring that every private person’s money should be converted to the use of the Edition: current; Page: [411] public, enacted that law, with intent that it should remain in force so long only as the cause of enacting it should remain? For, if all the decrees of the senate, and orders of the people, which were then made to answer the necessities of the times, are to be of perpetual obligation, why do we refund their money to private persons? Why do we pay ready money to contractors for public services? Why are not slaves brought to serve in the army? Why do we not, private subjects, supply rowers as we did then?

VII. “Shall, then, every other class of people, every individual, feel the improvement in the state; and shall our wives alone reap none of the fruits of the public peace and tranquillity? Shall we men have the use of purple, wearing the purple-bordered gown in magistracies and priests’ offices? Shall our children wear gowns bordered with purple? Shall we allow the privilege of such a dress to the magistrates of the colonies and borough towns, and to the very lowest of them here at Rome, the superintendants of the streets; and not only of wearing such an ornament of distinction while alive, but of being buried with it when dead; and shall we interdict the use of purple to women alone? And when you, the husband, may wear purple in your great coat, will you not suffer your wife to have a purple cloak? Shall the furniture of your house be finer than your wife’s clothes? But with respect to purple, which will be worn out and consumed, I can see an unjust, indeed, but still some sort of reason, for parsimony: but with respect to gold, in which, excepting the price of the workmanship, there is no waste, what motive can there be for denying it to them? It rather serves as a useful fund for both public and private exigencies, as you have already experienced. He says there will be no emulation between individuals, when no one is possessed of it. But, in truth, it will be a source of grief and indignation to all, when they see those ornaments allowed to the wives of the Latine Edition: current; Page: [412] confederates which have been forbidden to themselves; when they see those riding through the city in their carriages, and decorated with gold and purple, while they are obliged to follow on foot, as if empire were seated in the country of the others, not in their own. This would hurt the feelings even of men, and what do you think must be its effect on those of weak women, whom even trifles can disturb? Neither offices of state, not of the priesthood, nor triumphs, nor badges of distinction, nor military presents, nor spoils, can fall to their share. Elegance of appearance, and ornaments, and dress, these are the women’s badges of distinction; in these they delight and glory; these our ancestors called the women’s world. What other change in their apparel do they make, when in mourning, except the laying aside their gold and purple? And what, when the mourning is over, except resuming them? How do they distinguish themselves on occasion of public thanksgivings and supplications, but by adding unusual splendour to their dress? But then, if you repeal the Oppian law, should you choose to prohibit any of those particulars which the law at present prohibits, you will not have it in your power; your daughters, wives, and even the sisters of some, will be less under your control. The bondage of women is never shaken off, without the loss of their friends; and they themselves look with horror on that freedom which is purchased with the loss of a husband or parent. Their wish is, that their dress should be under your regulation, not under that of the law; and it ought to be your wish to hold them in control and guardianship, not in bondage; and to prefer the title of father or husband, to that of master. The consul just now made use of some invidious terms, calling it a female sedition and secession; because, I suppose, there is danger of their seizing the sacred mount, as formerly the angry plebeians did; or the Aventine. Their feeble nature must submit to whatever you think proper to enjoin; and, Edition: current; Page: [413] the greater power you possess, the more moderate ought you to be in the exercise of your authority.”

VIII. Notwithstanding all these arguments against the motion, the women next day poured out into public in much greater numbers, and, in a body, beset the doors of the protesting tribunes; nor did they retire until the tribunes withdrew their protest. There was then no farther demur, but every one of the tribes voted for the repeal. Thus was this law annulled, in the twentieth year after it had been made. The consul, Marcus Porcius, as soon as the business of the Oppian law was over, sailed immediately, with twenty-five ships of war, of which five belonged to the allies, to the port of Luna, where he ordered the troops to assemble; and having sent an edict along the sea-coast, to collect ships of every description, at his departure from Luna he left orders, that they should follow him to the harbour of Pyrenæus, as he intended to proceed thence against the enemy with all the force that he could muster. They accordingly, after sailing by the Ligurian mountains and the Gallic bay, joined him there on the day appointed. From thence they went to Rhoda, and dislodged a garrison of Spaniards that were in that fortress. From Rhoda they proceeded with a favourable wind to Emporiæ, and there landed all the forces, excepting the crews of the ships.

IX. At that time, as at present, Emporiæ consisted of two towns, separated by a wall. One was inhabited by Greeks, from Phocæa, whence the Massilians also derive their origin; the other by Spaniards. The Greek town, being open towards the sea, had but a small extent of wall, not above four hundred paces in circuit; but the Spanish town, being farther back from the sea, had a wall three thousand paces in circumference. A third kind of inhabitants was added by the deified Cæsar settling a Roman colony there, after the final defeat of the sons of Pompey. At present they are all incorporated Edition: current; Page: [414] in one mass; the Spaniards first, and, at length, the Greeks; having been admitted to the privilege of Roman citizens. Whoever had, at that period, observed the Greeks exposed on one side to the open sea, and on the other to the Spaniards, a fierce and warlike race, would have wondered by what cause they were preserved. Deficient in strength, they guarded against danger by regular discipline; of which, among even more powerful people, the best preservative is fear. That part of the wall which faced the country, they kept strongly fortified, having but one gate, at which some of the magistrates was continually on guard. During the night, a third part of the citizens kept watch on the walls, posting their watches, and going their rounds, not merely from the force of custom, or in compliance with the law, but with as much vigilance as if an enemy were at their gates. They never admitted any Spaniard into the city, nor did they go outside the walls without precaution. The passage to the sea was open to every one; but, through the gate, next to the Spanish town, none ever passed, but in a large body; these were generally the third division, which had watched on the walls the preceding night. The cause of their going out was this: the Spaniards, ignorant of maritime affairs, were fond of trafficking with them, and glad of an opportunity of purchasing, for their own use, the foreign goods, which the others imported in their ships; and, at the same time, of finding a market for the produce of their lands. Sensible of the advantages resulting from a mutual intercourse, the Spaniards gave the Greeks free admittance into their city. Another thing, which contributed to their safety, was, being sheltered under the friendship of the Romans, which they cultivated with as much cordial zeal, though not possessed of equal abilities, as the Massilians. On this account they received the consul, and his army, with every demonstration of courtesy and kindness. Cato staid there a few days, until he Edition: current; Page: [415] could learn what force the enemy had, and where they lay; and, not to be idle during even that short delay, he spent the whole time in exercising his men. It happened to be the season of the year when people have the corn in their barns. He therefore ordered the purveyors not to purchase any corn, and sent them home to Rome, saying, that the war would maintain itself. Then, setting out from Emporiæ, he laid waste the lands of the enemy with fire and sword, spreading terror and desolation over the whole country.

X. At the same time, as Marcus Helvius was going home from Farther Spain, with an escort of six thousand men, given him by the prætor, Appius Claudius, the Celtiberians, with a very numerous army, met him near the city of Illiturgi. Valerius says, that they had twenty thousand effective men; that twelve thousand of them were killed, the town of Illiturgi taken, and all the adult males put to the sword. Helvius, soon after, arrived at the camp of Cato; and as he had now no danger to apprehend from the enemy, in the country through which he was to pass, he sent back the escort to Farther Spain, and proceeded to Rome, where, on account of his successful services, he received the honour of an ovation. He carried into the treasury, of silver bullion, fourteen thousand pounds weight; of coined, seventeen thousand and twenty-three denariuses;* and Oscan† denariuses, twenty thousand four hundred and thirty-eight.‡ The reason for which the senate refused him a triumph was, because he fought under the auspices, and in the province, of another. As he had not come home until the second year after the expiration of his office, because, after he had resigned the government of the province to Quintius Minucius, he was detained Edition: current; Page: [416] there, during the succeeding year, by a severe and tedious sickness, he entered the city in ovation, only two months before the triumph of his successor. The latter brought into the treasury thirty-four thousand eight hundred pounds weight of silver, seventy-eight thousand denariuses,* and of Oscan denariuses two hundred and seventy-eight thousand.†

XI. Meanwhile, in Spain, the consul lay encamped at a small distance from Emporiæ. Thither came three ambassadors from Bilistages, chieftain of the Ilergetians, one of whom was his son, representing, that “their fortresses were besieged, and that they had no hopes of being able to hold out, unless the Romans sent them succour. Five thousand men,” they said, “would be sufficient;” and they added, that, “if such a force came to their aid, the enemy would evacuate the country.” To this the consul answered, that “he was truly concerned for their danger and their fears; but that his army was far from being so numerous, as that, while there lay in his neighbourhood such a powerful force of the enemy, with whom he daily expected a general engagement, he could safely diminish his strength by dividing his forces.” The ambassadors, on hearing this, threw themselves at the consul’s feet, and with tears conjured him not to forsake them at such a perilous juncture. For, if rejected by the Romans, to whom could they apply? They had no other allies, no other hope on earth. They might have escaped the present hazard, if they had consented to forfeit their faith, and to conspire with the rest; but no menaces, no appearances of danger had been able to shake their constancy; because they hoped to find in the Romans abundant succour and support. If there was no farther prospect of this; if it was refused them by the consul, they called gods and men Edition: current; Page: [417] to witness, that it was contrary to their inclination, and in compliance with necessity, that they should change sides, to avoid such sufferings as the Saguntines had undergone; and that they would perish together with the other states of Spain, rather than alone.”

XII. They were, that day, dismissed without any positive answer. During the following night, the consul’s thoughts were greatly perplexed and divided. He was unwilling to abandon these allies, yet equally so to diminish his army, which might either oblige him to decline a battle, or render an engagement too hazardous. At length, he determined not to lessen his forces, lest he should suffer some disgrace from the enemy; and therefore he judged it expedient, instead of real succour, to hold out hopes to the allies. For he considered that, in many cases, but especially in war, mere appearances have had all the effect of realities; and that a person, under a firm persuasion that he can command resources, virtually has them; that very prospect inspiring him with hope and boldness in his exertions. Next day he told the ambassadors, that “although he had many objections to lending a part of his forces to others, yet he considered their circumstances and danger more than his own.” He then gave orders to the third part of the soldiers of every cohort, to make haste and prepare victuals, which they were to carry with them on board ships, which he ordered to be got in readiness against the third day. He desired two of the ambassadors to carry an account of these proceedings to Bilistages and the Ilergetians; but, by kind treatment and presents, he prevailed on the chieftain’s son to remain with him. The ambassadors did not leave the place until they saw the troops embarked on board the ships; then reporting this at home, they spread, not only among their own people, but likewise among the enemy, a confident assurance of the approach of Roman succours.

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XIII. The consul, when he had carried appearances as far as he thought sufficient, to create a belief of his intending to send aid, ordered the soldiers to be landed again from the ships; and, as the season of the year now approached, when it would be proper to enter on action, he pitched a winter camp at the distance of a mile from Emporiæ. From this post he frequently led out his troops to ravage the enemy’s country; sometimes to one quarter, sometimes to another, as opportunity offered, leaving only a small guard in the camp. They generally began their march in the night, that they might proceed as far as possible, and surprise the enemy unawares; by which practice, the new-raised soldiers gained a knowledge of discipline, and great numbers of the enemy were cut off; so that they no longer dared to venture beyond the walls of their forts. When he had made himself thoroughly acquainted with the temper of the enemy, and of his own men, he ordered the tribunes and the præfects, with all the horsemen and centurions, to be called together, and addressed them thus: “The time is arrived, which you have often wished for, when you might have an opportunity of displaying your valour. Hitherto you have waged war, rather as marauders than as regular troops; you shall now meet your enemies face to face, in regular fight. Henceforward you will have it in your power, instead of pillaging country places, to rifle the treasures of cities. Our fathers, at a time when the Carthaginians had in Spain both commanders and armies, and they themselves had neither commander nor soldier there, nevertheless insisted on its being an article of treaty, that the river Iberus should be the boundary of their empire. Now, when two prætors of the Romans, one of their consuls, and three armies are employed in Spain, and, for near ten years past, no Carthaginian has been in either of its provinces, yet we have lost that empire on the hither side of the Iberus. This it is your duty to recover by your valour and arms; Edition: current; Page: [419] and to compel this nation, which is in a state rather of giddy insurrection than of steady warfare, to receive again the yoke which it has shaken off.” After thus exhorting them, he gave notice, that he intended to march by night to the enemy’s camp; and then dismissed them to take refreshment.

XIV. At midnight, after having duly performed what related to the auspices, he began his march, that he might take possession of such ground as he chose, before the enemy should observe him. Having led his troops beyond their camp, he formed them in order of battle, and at the first light sent three cohorts close to their very ramparts. The barbarians, surprised at the Romans appearing on their rear, ran hastily to arms. In the mean time, the consul observed to his men, “Soldiers, you have no room for hope, but in your own courage; and I have, purposely, taken care that it should be so. The enemy are between us and our tents; behind us is an enemy’s country. What is most honourable, is likewise safest: to place all our hopes in our own valour.” He then ordered the cohorts to retreat, in order to draw out the barbarians by the appearance of flight. Every thing happened, as he had expected. The enemy, thinking that the Romans retired through fear, rushed out of the gate, and filled the whole space between their own camp and the line of their adversaries. While they were hastily marshalling their troops, the consul, who had all his in readiness, and in regular array, attacked them before they could be properly formed. He caused the cavalry from both wings to advance first to the charge: but those on the right were immediately repulsed, and, retiring in disorder, spread confusion among the infantry also. On seeing this, the consul ordered two chosen cohorts to march round the right flank of the enemy, and show themselves on their rear, before the two lines of infantry should close. The alarm, which this gave the enemy, remedied the Edition: current; Page: [420] disadvantage occasioned by the cowardice of the cavalry, and restored the fight to an equality. But such a panick had taken possession of both the cavalry and infantry of the right wing, that the consul was obliged to lay hold of several with his own hand, and turn them about, with their faces to the enemy. As long as the fight was carried on with missile weapons, success was doubtful; and, on the right wing, where the disorder and flight had first begun, the Romans with difficulty kept their ground. On their left wing, the barbarians were hard pressed in front; and looked back, with dread, at the cohorts that threatened their rear. But when, after discharging their iron darts and large javelins, they drew their swords, the battle, in a manner, began anew. They were no longer wounded by random blows from a distance, but closing foot to foot, placed all their hope in courage and strength.

XV. When the consul’s men were now spent with fatigue, he reanimated their courage, by bringing up into the fight some subsidiary cohorts from the second line. These formed a new front, and being fresh themselves, and with fresh weapons attacking the wearied enemy in the form of a wedge, by a furious onset they first made them give ground: and then, when they were once broken, put them completely to flight, and compelled them to seek their camp with all the speed they could make. When Cato saw the rout become general, he rode back to the second legion, which had been posted in reserve, and ordered it to advance in quick motion, and attack the camp of the enemy. If any of them, through too much eagerness, pushed forward beyond his rank, he himself rose up and struck them with his javelin, and also ordered the tribunes and centurions to chastise them. By this time the camp was attacked, though the Romans were kept off from the works by stones, poles, and weapons of every sort. But, on the arrival of the fresh legion, the assailants assumed new Edition: current; Page: [421] courage, and the enemy fought with redoubled fury in defence of their rampart. The consul attentively examined every place himself, that he might make his push where he saw the weakest resistance. At a gate on the left, he observed that the guard was thin, and thither he led the first-rank men and spearmen of the second legion. The party posted at the gate were not able to withstand their assault; while the rest, seeing the enemy within the rampart, abandoned the defence of the camp, and threw away their standards and arms. Great numbers were killed at the gates, being stopped in the narrow passages by the throng; and the soldiers of the second legion cut off the hindmost, while the rest were in search of plunder. According to the account of Valerius Antias, there were above forty thousand of the enemy killed on that day. Cato himself, who was not apt to be too sparing in his own praise, says that a great many were killed, but he specifies no number.

XVI. The conduct of Cato on that day is judged deserving of commendation in three particulars. First, in leading round his army so far from his camp and fleet, as to put the enemy between it and them, when he engaged, that his men might look for no safety but in their courage. Secondly, in throwing the cohorts on the enemy’s rear. Thirdly, in ordering the second legion, when all the rest were disordered by the eagerness of their pursuit, to advance at a full pace to the gate of the camp, in compact and regular order under their standards. He delayed not to improve his victory; but having sounded a retreat, and brought back his men laden with spoil, he allowed them a few hours of the night for rest; and then led them out to ravage the country. They spread their depredations the wider, as the enemy were dispersed in their flight; and this disaster, operating not less forcibly than the defeat of the preceding day, obliged the Spaniards of Emporiæ, and those of their neighbourhood, to make a submission. Edition: current; Page: [422] Many also, belonging to other states, who had made their escape to Emporiæ, surrendered; all of whom the consul received with kindness, and after refreshing them with victuals and wine, dismissed to their several homes. He quickly decamped thence, and wherever the army proceeded on its march, he was met by ambassadors, surrendering their respective states; so that, by the time when he arrived at Tarraco, all Spain on this side of the Iberus was in a state of perfect subjection; and the Roman prisoners, and those of their allies and the Latine confederates, who, by various chances, had fallen into the hands of the enemies in Spain, were brought back by the barbarians, and presented to the consul. A rumour afterwards spread abroad, that Cato intended to lead his army into Turdetania; and it was given out with equal falsehood, that he meant to proceed to the remote inhabitants of the mountains. On this groundless, unauthenticated report, seven forts of the Bergistans revolted; but the Roman, marching thither, reduced them to subjection without much fighting. In a short time after, when the consul returned to Tarraco, and before he removed to any other place, the same persons revolted again. They were again subdued; but, on this second reduction, met not the same mild treatment; they were all sold by auction, to put an end to their continual rebellions.

XVII. In the mean time, the prætor, Publius Manlius, having received the army from Quintus Minucius, whom he had succeeded, and joined to it the old army of Appius Claudius Nero, from farther Spain, marched into Turdetania. Of all the Spaniards, the Turdetanians are reckoned the least warlike; nevertheless, relying on their great numbers, they went to oppose the march of the Roman. One charge of the cavalry immediately broke their line; and, with the infantry, there was hardly any dispute. The veteran soldiers, well acquainted with the enemy, and their manner of Edition: current; Page: [423] fighting, effectually decided the battle. This engagement, however, did not terminate the war. The Turdulans hired ten thousand Celtiberians, and prepared to carry on the war with foreign troops. The consul, meanwhile, alarmed at the rebellion of the Bergistans, and suspecting that the other states would act in like manner, when occasion offered, took away their arms from all the Spaniards, on this side of the Iberus; which proceeding affected them so deeply, that many laid violent hands on themselves, thinking, according to the notions of that fierce race, that, without arms, life was nothing. When this was reported to the consul, he summoned before him the senators of every one of the states, to whom he spoke thus: “It is not more our interest, than it is your own, that you should not rebel; since your insurrections have, hitherto, always drawn more misfortune on the Spaniards, than labour on the Roman armies. To prevent such things happening in future, I know but one method, which is, to put it out of your power to rebel. I wish to effect this in the gentlest way, and that you would assist me therein with your advice. I will follow none with greater pleasure, than what yourselves shall offer. They all remained silent; and then he told them that he would give them a few days time to consider the matter. They were again called together; but, even in the second meeting, they uttered not a word. On which, in one day, he razed the walls of all their fortresses; and, marching against those who had not yet submitted, he received, in every country as he passed through, the submission of all the neighbouring states. Segestica alone, a strong and opulent city, he reduced by a regular siege.

XVIII. Cato had greater difficulties to surmount, in subduing the enemy, than had those commanders who came first into Spain; for this reason, that the Spaniards, through disgust at the Carthaginian government, came over to their side; whereas, he had the task of enforcing their submission to Edition: current; Page: [424] slavery, in a manner, after they had been in full enjoyment of liberty. Beside, he found the whole province in a state of commotion, insomuch, that some were in arms, and others, because they refused to join in the revolt, were held besieged, and would not have been able to hold out, if they had not received timely succour. But so vigorous was the spirit and capacity of the consul, that there was no kind of business, whether great or small, which he did not himself attend to and perform; and he not only planned and ordered, but generally executed in person, such measures as were expedient; nor did he practice greater strictness and severity over any one than over himself. In spare diet, watching and labour, he vied with the meanest of his soldiers; nor, excepting the honour of his post, and the command, had he any peculiar distinction above the rest of the army.

XIX. The Celtiberians, hired by the enemy as abovementioned, rendered the war in Turdetania difficult to the prætor, Publius Manlius. The consul, therefore, in compliance with a letter from the prætor, led his legions thither. The Celtiberians and Turdetanians were lying in separate camps at the approach of the Romans, who began immediately to skirmish with the Turdetanians, making attacks on their advanced guards; and they constantly came off victorious, though sometimes they engaged too rashly: The consul ordered some military tribunes to enter into a conference with the Celtiberians, and to offer them their choice of three proposals: first, to come over to the Romans, and receive double the pay for which they had agreed with the Turdetanians: the second, to depart to their own homes, on receiving assurance under the sanction of the public faith, that no resentment should be shown of their behaviour in joining the enemies of the Romans: the third was, that, if they were absolutely determined on war, they should appoint a day and place to decide the matter with him by arms. The Celtiberians desired Edition: current; Page: [425] a day’s time for consideration; but numbers of the Turdetanians mixing in their assembly, caused so great a confusion, as to prevent them from forming any resolution. Although it was uncertain whether there was to be war or peace with the Celtiberians, the Romans nevertheless, just as though the latter were determined on, brought provisions from the lands and forts of the enemy, and soon ventured to go within their fortifications, relying on private truces, as they would on a common intercourse established by authority. When the consul found that he could not entice the enemy to a battle, he first led out a number of cohorts, lightly accoutred, in regular order, to ravage a part of the country, which was yet unhurt; then hearing that all the baggage of the Celtiberians was deposited at Saguntia, he proceeded thither to attack that town, but was unable, notwithstanding, to provoke them to stir. Paying, therefore, his own troops, and those of Minucius, he left the bulk of his army in the prætor’s camp, and, with seven cohorts, returned to the Iberus.

XX. With that small force he took several towns. The Sidetonians, Ausetanians, and Suessetanians came over to his side. The Lacetanians, a remote and wild nation, still remained in arms; partly through their natural ferocity, and partly through consciousness of guilt, in having laid waste, by sudden incursions, the country of the allies, while the consul and his army were employed in the war with the Turdetanians. He therefore marched to attack their capital, not only with the Roman cohorts, but also with the troops of the allies, who were justly incensed against them. The town was stretched out into considerable length, but had not proportionable breadth. At the distance of about four hundred paces from it, he halted; and leaving there a party composed of chosen cohorts, he charged them not to stir from that spot until he himself should come to them; and then he led round Edition: current; Page: [426] the rest of the men to the farther side of the town. The greater part of his auxiliary troops were Suessetanians, and these he ordered to advance and assault the wall. The Lacetanians knowing their arms and standards, and remembering how often they had, themselves, with impunity, committed every kind of outrage and insult in their territory, how often defeated and routed them in pitched battles, hastily threw open a gate, and all, in one body, rushed out against them. The Suessetanians scarcely stood their shout, much less their onset; and the consul, on seeing this happen just as he had foreseen, galloped back under the enemy’s wall to his cohorts, brought them up quickly to that side, where all was silence and solitude, in consequence of the Lacetanians having sallied out on the Suessetanians, led them into the town, and took possession of every part of it before the return of its people, who, having nothing now left but their arms, soon surrendered themselves also.

XXI. The conqueror marched thence, without delay, to the fort of Vergium, which being now converted, almost entirely, into a receptacle of robbers and plunderers, incursions were made on the peaceable parts of the province. One of the principal inhabitants deserted out of the place to the consul, and endeavoured to excuse himself and his countrymen; alleging, that “the management of affairs was not in their hands; for the robbers, having gained admittance, had reduced the fort entirely under their own power.” The consul ordered him to return home, and pretend some plausible reason for having been absent; and then, “when he should see him advancing to the walls, and the robbers intent on making a defence, to seize the citadel with such men as favoured his party.” This was executed according to his directions. The double alarm, from the Romans scaling the walls in front, and the citadel being seized on their rear, at once entirely confounded the barbarians. The consul, having Edition: current; Page: [427] taken possession of the place, ordered, that those who had secured the citadel, should, with their relations, be set at liberty, and enjoy their property; the rest of the natives, he commanded the quæstor to sell; and he put the robbers to death. Having restored quiet, he settled the iron and silver mines on such a footing, that they produced a large revenue; and, in consequence of the regulations then made, the province daily increased in riches. On account of these services performed in Spain, the senate decreed a supplication for three days. During this summer, the other consul, Lucius Valerius Flaccus, fought a pitched battle with a body of the Boians in Gaul, near the forest of Litinæ, and gained a complete victory. We are told, that eight thousand of the Gauls were killed, the rest, desisting from farther opposition, retired to their several villages and lands. During the remainder of the season, the consul kept his army near the Po, at Placentia and Cremona, and repaired the buildings in these cities, which had been ruined in the war.

XXII. While the affairs of Italy and Spain were in this posture, Titus Quintius had spent the winter in Greece, in such a manner, that, excepting the Ætolians, who neither had gained rewards of victory adequate to their hopes, nor were capable of being long contented with a state of quiet, all Greece, being in full enjoyment of the blessings of peace and liberty, were highly pleased with their present state; and they admired not more the Roman general’s bravery in arms, than his temperance, justice, and moderation in success. And now, a decree of the senate was brought to him, containing a denunciation of war against Nabis, the Lacedæmonian. On reading it, Quintius summoned a convention of deputies from all the allied states, to be held, on a certain day, at Corinth. Accordingly, many persons of the first rank came together, from all quarters, forming a very full assembly, from which even the Ætolians were not absent. He then Edition: current; Page: [428] addressed them in this manner:—“Although the Romans and Greeks, in the war which they waged against Philip, were united in affections and counsels, yet they had each their separate reasons for entering into it. He had violated friendship with the Romans; first, by aiding our enemies, the Carthaginians; and then, by attacking our allies here: and, towards you, his conduct was such, that even if we were willing to forget our own injuries, those offered by him to you would be reason sufficient to make us declare war against him. But the business to be considered this day, rests wholly on yourselves: for the subject which I propose to your consideration is, whether you choose to suffer Argos, which, as you know, has been seized by Nabis, to remain under his dominion; or whether you judge it reasonable, that a city of such high reputation and antiquity, seated in the centre of Greece, should be restored to liberty, and placed in the same state with the rest of the cities of Peloponnesus and of Greece. This question, as you see, merely respects yourselves; it concerns not the Romans in any degree, excepting so far as the one city being left in subjection to tyranny, hinders their glory, in having liberated Greece, from being full and complete. If, however, you are not moved by regard for that city, nor by the example, nor by the danger of the contagion of that evil spreading wider, we, for our parts, shall rest content. On this subject I desire your opinions, resolved to abide by whatever the majority of you shall determine.”

XXIII. When the Roman general had ended his discourse, the several deputies proceeded to give their opinions. The ambassador of the Athenians extolled, to the utmost of his power, and expressed the greatest gratitude for the kindness of the Romans towards Greece, “in having, when applied to for assistance, brought them succours against Philip; and now, without being applied to, voluntarily offering assistance Edition: current; Page: [429] against the tyrant Nabis.” He at the same time severely censured the conduct of some, who, in their discourses, “depreciated those kindnesses, and propagated evil surmises of the future, when it would better become them rather to return thanks for the past.” It was evident that this was pointed at the Ætolians: wherefore Alexander, deputy of that nation, began with inveighing against the Athenians, who, having formerly been the most strenuous supporters of liberty, now betrayed the general cause, for the sake of recommending themselves by flattery. He then complained that “the Achæans, formerly soldiers of Philip, and lately, on the decline of his fortune, deserters from him, had regained possession of Corinth, and were aiming at the possession of Argos; while the Ætolians, who had first opposed their arms to Philip, who had always been allies of the Romans, and who had stipulated by treaty, that, on the Macedonian being conquered, the lands and cities should be theirs, were defrauded by Echinus and Pharsalus.” He charged the Romans with insincerity, because “while they made empty professions of establishing universal liberty, they held forcible possession of Demetrias and Chalcis; though, when Philip hesitated to withdraw his garrisons from those places, they always urged against him, that the Grecians would never be free, while Demetrias, Chalcis, and Corinth were in the hands of others. And lastly, that they named Argos and Nabis merely as a pretext for remaining in Greece, and keeping their armies there. Let them carry home their legions; and the Ætolians were ready to undertake, either that Nabis should voluntarily evacuate Argos, on terms; or they would compel him, by force of arms, to comply with the unanimous judgment of Greece.”

XXIV. This arrogant speech called up, first, Aristænus, prætor of the Achæans, who said;—“Forbid, it Jupiter, supremely good and great, and imperial Juno, the tutelar deity Edition: current; Page: [430] of Argos, that that city should lie as a prize between the Lacedæmonian tyrant, and the Ætolian plunderers, under such unhappy circumstances, that its being retaken by us should be productive of more calamitous consequences than its capture by him. Titus Quintius, the sea lying between us, does not secure us from those robbers; what then will become of us, should they procure themselves a strong hold in the centre of Peloponnesus? They have nothing Grecian but the language, as they have nothing human but the shape. They live like beasts of prey, and are, in their manners and rites, more brutally savage than any barbarians. Wherefore, Romans, we beseech you, not only to recover Argos from Nabis, but also to establish the affairs of Greece on such a footing, as to leave these countries in a state of security from the robberies of the Ætolians.” The rest concurring in these censures on the Ætolians, the Roman general said, that “he had, himself, intended to have answered them, but that he perceived all so highly incensed against those people, that the general resentment required rather to be appeased than irritated. Satisfied, therefore, with the sentiments entertained of the Romans, and of the Ætolians, he would simply put this question: What was the general opinion concerning war with Nabis, in case of his refusing to restore Argos to the Achæans?” Every one voted for war; whereupon, he recommended to them, to send in their shares of auxiliary troops, each state in proportion to its ability. He even sent an ambassador to the Ætolians; rather to make them disclose their sentiments, in which he succeeded, than with any hope of obtaining their concurrence. He gave orders to the military tribunes, to bring up the army from Elatia. To the ambassadors of Antiochus, who at this time, proposed to treat of an alliance, he answered, that “he could say nothing on the subject in the absence of the ten ambassadors. They must go to Rome, and apply to the senate.”

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XXV. As soon as the troops arrived from Elatia, Quintius put himself at their head, and began his march toward Argos. Near Cleone he was met by the prætor, Aristænus, with ten thousand Achæan foot, and one thousand horse; and having joined forces, they pitched their camp at a small distance from thence. Next day they marched down into the plains of Argos, and fixed their post about four miles from that city. The commander of the Lacedæmonian garrison was Pythagoras, the tyrant’s son-in-law, and his wife’s brother; who, on the approach of the Romans, posted strong guards in both the citadels, for Argos has two, and in every other place that was commodious for defence, or exposed to danger. But, while thus employed, he could by no means dissemble the dread inspired by the approach of the Romans; and, to the alarm from abroad, was added, an insurrection within. There was an Argive, named Damocles, a youth of more spirit than prudence, who held conversations, with proper persons, on a design of expelling the garrison, at first with the precaution of imposing an oath, but afterwards, through his eager desire to add strength to the conspiracy, he trusted to people’s sincerity with too little reserve. While he was in conference with his accomplices, an officer, sent by the commander of the garrison summoned him to appear before him, and this convinced him that his plot was betrayed; on which, exhorting the conspirators, who were present, to take arms with him, rather than be tortured to death, he went on with a few companions towards the Forum, crying out to all who wished the preservation of the state, to follow him: he would lead them to liberty, and assert its cause. He could prevail on none to join him; for they saw no prospect of any attainable advantage, and much less any support on which they could rely. While he exclaimed in this manner, the Lacedæmonians surrounded him and his party, and put them to death. Many others were afterwards seized, the greater Edition: current; Page: [432] part of whom were executed, and the remaining few thrown into prison. During the following night, great numbers, letting themselves down from the walls by ropes, came over to the Romans.

XXVI. These men affirmed, that if the Roman army had been at the gates, the commotion would not have ended without effect; and that, if the camp was brought nearer, the townsmen would not remain inactive. Quintius, therefore, sent some horsemen and infantry lightly accoutered, who, meeting at the Cylarabis, a place of exercise, less than three hundred paces from the city, a party of Lacedæmonians, who sallied out of a gate, engaged them, and without much difficulty drove them back into the town; and the Roman general encamped on the very spot where the battle was fought. There he passed one day, watching if any new commotion might arise; but perceiving that the inhabitants were quite disheartened, he called a council to determine whether he should lay siege to Argos. All the deputies of Greece, except Aristænus, were of one opinion, that, as that city was the sole object of the war, with it the war should commence. This was by no means agreeable to Quintius, but he listened, with evident marks of approbation, to Aristænus, arguing in opposition to the joint opinion of all the rest; while he himself added, that “as the war was undertaken in favour of the Argives, against the tyrant, what could be less proper than to leave the enemy in quiet, and lay siege to Argos? For his part, he was resolved to point his arms against the main object of the war, Lacedæmon and Nabis.” He then dismissed the meeting, and sent out light armed cohorts to collect forage. Whatever was ripe in the adjacent country, they reaped, and brought together; and what was green they trod down and destroyed, to prevent its being of use to the enemy. He then proceeded over Mount Parthenius, and, passing by Tygæa, encamped on the third day at Caryæ, where he waited Edition: current; Page: [433] for the auxiliary troops of the allies, before he entered the enemy’s territory. Fifteen hundred Macedonians came from Philip, and four hundred horsemen from Thessaly; and now the Roman general had no occasion to wait for more auxiliaries, having abundance; but he was obliged to stop for supplies of provisions, which he had ordered the neighbouring cities to furnish. He was joined also by a powerful naval force: Lucius Quintius came from Leucas, with forty ships, as did eighteen ships of war from the Rhodians; and King Eumenes was cruising among the Cyclades, with ten decked ships, thirty barks, and smaller vessels of various sorts. Of the Lacedæmonians themselves, also, a great many, who had been driven from home by the cruelty of the tyrants, came into the Roman camp, in hopes of being reinstated in their country; for the number was very great of those who had been banished by the several despots, during many generations, since they first got Lacedæmon into their power. The principal person among the exiles was Agesipolis, to whom the crown of Lacedæmon belonged in right of his birth; but who had been driven out when an infant by Lycurgus, after the death of Cleomenes, the first tyrant of Lacedæmon.

XXVII. Although Nabis was inclosed between such powerful armaments on land and sea, and who, on a comparative view of his own and his enemy’s strength, could scarcely conceive any degree of hope; yet neglected not preparing for a defence, but brought, from Crete, a thousand chosen young men of that country, in addition to a thousand whom he had before; he had, besides, under arms, three thousand mercenary soldiers, and ten thousand of his countrymen, with the peasants, who were vassals to the proprietors of land.* He fortified the city with a ditch and rampart; and, to prevent any intestine commotion, curbed the people’s spirits by Edition: current; Page: [434] fear, punishing them with extreme severity. As he could not hope for good wishes towards a tyrant, and had reason to suspect some designs against his person, he drew out all his forces to a field called Dromos (the course), and ordered the Lacedæmonians to be called to an assembly without their arms. He then formed a line of armed men round the place where they were assembled, observing briefly, “that he ought to be excused, if, at such a juncture, he feared, and guarded against every thing that might happen; and that, if the present state of affairs subjected any to suspicion, it was their advantage to be prevented from attempting any design, rather than to be punished for the attempt: he therefore intended,” he said, “to keep certain persons in custody, until the storm, which then threatened, should blow over; and would discharge them as soon as the country should be clear of the enemy, from whom the danger would be less, when proper precaution was taken against internal treachery.” He then ordered the names of about eighty of the principal young men to be called over, and as each answered to his name, he put them in custody. On the night following they were all put to death. Some of the Ilotans, or Helotes a race of rustics, who have been vassals even from the earliest times, being charged with an intention to desert, they were driven with stripes through all the streets, and put to death. The terror which this excited so enervated the multitude, that they gave up all thoughts of any attempt to effect a revolution. He kept his forces within the fortifications, knowing that he was not a match for the enemy in the field, and, besides, he was afraid to leave the city, while all men’s minds were in a state of such suspense and uncertainty.

XXVIII. Quintius, having finished every necessary preparation, decamped, and, on the second day, came to Sellasia, on the river Œnus, on the spot where it is said Antigonus, King of Macedonia, fought a pitched battle with Cleomenes, Edition: current; Page: [435] tyrant of Lacedæmon. Being told, that the ascent from thence was through a difficult and narrow pass, he made a short circuit by the mountains, sending forward a party to make a road, and came, by a broad and open passage, to the river Eurotas, where it flows almost immediately under the walls of the city. Here, the tyrant’s auxiliary troops attacked the Romans, while they were forming their camp; together with Quintius himself, (who, with a division of cavalry and light troops, had advanced beyond the rest,) and threw all into fright and confusion; for they had not expected any impediment on their whole march, they had met no kind of molestation; passing, as it were, through the territory of friends. The disorder lasted a considerable time, the infantry calling for aid on the cavalry, and the cavalry on the infantry, each relying on the others more than on themselves. At length, the foremost ranks of the legions came up; and no sooner had the cohorts of the vanguard taken part in the fight, than those, who had lately spread terror round them, were driven back into the city. The Romans, retiring so far from the wall as to be out of the reach of weapons, stood there for some time, in battle array, and then, none of the enemy coming out against them, retired to their camp. Next day Quintius led on his army in regular order along the bank of the river, passed the city, to the foot of the mountain of Menelaus, the legionary cohorts marching in front, and the cavalry and light-infantry bringing up the rear. Nabis kept his mercenary troops, on whom he placed his whole reliance, in readiness, and drawn up in a body, within the walls, intending to attack the rear of the enemy; and, as soon as the last of their troops passed by, these rushed out of the town, from several places at once, with as great fury as the day before. The rear was commanded by Appius Claudius, who having, beforehand, prepared his men to expect such an event, that they might not be disconcerted when it happened, instantly Edition: current; Page: [436] made his troops face about, and presented an entire front to the enemy. A regular engagement, therefore, took place, as if two complete lines had encountered, and it lasted a considerable time; but, at length, Nabis’s troops betook themselves to flight, which would have been attended with less dismay and danger, if they had not been closely pressed by the Achæans, who were well acquainted with the ground. These made dreadful havock, and dispersing them entirely, obliged the greater part to throw away their arms. Quintius encamped near Amyclæ, and, afterwards, when he had utterly laid waste all the pleasant and thickly inhabited country round the city, the enemy not venturing out of the gates, he removed his camp to the river Eurotas. From thence, he sent out parties that ravaged the valley lying under Taygetus, and the country reaching as far as the sea.

XXIX. About the same time, Lucius Quintius got possession of the towns on the sea-coast; of some by their voluntary surrender, of others, by fear or force. Then, learning that the Lacedæmonians made Gythium the repository of all their naval stores, and that the Roman camp was at no great distance from the sea, he resolved to attack that town with his whole force. It was, at that time, a place of considerable strength; well furnished with great numbers of native inhabitants and settlers from other parts, and with every kind of warlike stores. Very seasonably for Quintius, at the commencement of an enterprise of no easy nature, King Eumenes and the Rhodian fleet joined him. The vast multitude of seamen, collected out of the three fleets, finished in a few days all the works requisite for the siege of a city so strongly fortified, both on the land side and on that next the sea. Covered galleries were soon brought up; the wall was undermined, and, at the same time, shaken with battering rams. By the frequent shocks given with these, one of the towers was thrown down, and, by its fall, the adjoining wall Edition: current; Page: [437] on each side was laid flat. The Romans, on this, attempted to force in, both on the side next the port, to which the approach was more level than to the rest, hoping to divert the enemy’s attention from the more open passage, and, at the same time, to enter the breach caused by the falling of the wall. They were near effecting their design, of penetrating into the town, when the assault was suspended by a proposal of a capitulation; which, however, came to nothing. Dexagoridas and Gorgopas commanded there, with equal authority. Dexagoridas had sent to the Roman general the proposal of surrendering, and, after the time and the mode of proceeding had been agreed on, he was slain as a traitor by Gorgopas, and the defence of the city was maintained with redoubled vigour by this single commander. The farther prosecution of the siege would have been much more difficult, had not Titus Quintius arrived with a body of four thousand chosen men. He showed his army in order of battle, on the brow of a hill at a small distance from the city; and, on the other side, Lucius Quintius plied the enemy hard with his engines, both on the quarter of the sea, and of the land; on which Gorgopas was compelled to follow the plan, which, in the case of another, he had punished with death. After stipulating for liberty to carry away the soldiers whom he had there as a garrison, he surrendered the city to Quintius. Previous to the surrender of Gythium, Pythagoras, who commanded at Argos, left that place, intrusting the defence of the city to Timocrates of Pellene; and, with a thousand mercenary soldiers, and two thousand Argives, came to Lacedæmon and joined Nabis.

XXX. Although Nabis had been greatly alarmed at the first arrival of the Roman fleet, and the loss of the towns on the sea-coast, yet, as long as Gythium was held by his troops, the small degree of hope, which that afforded, had helped to quiet his apprehensions; but, when he heard that Gythium Edition: current; Page: [438] too was given up to the Romans, and saw that he had no room for any kind of hope on the land, where every place round was in the hands of the enemy, and that he was totally excluded from the sea, he found himself under the necessity of yielding to fortune. He first sent an officer, with a wand of parley, into the Roman camp, to learn whether permission would be given to send ambassadors. This being consented to, Pythagoras came to the general, with no other commission than to propose a conference between that commander and the tyrant. A council was summoned on the proposal, and every one present agreeing in opinion, that a conference should be granted, a time and place were appointed. They came, with moderate escorts, to some hills in the interjacent ground; and leaving their cohorts there, in posts open to the view of both parties, they went down to the place of meeting; Nabis attended by a select party of his life-guards; Quintius by his brother, King Eumenes; Sosilaus, the Rhodian; Aristænus, prætor of the Achæans, and a few military tribunes.

XXXI. Then the tyrant, having the choice given him to speak either before or after the Roman, began thus: “Titus Quintius, and you who are present; if I could collect, from my own reflections, the reason of your having either declared, or actually made war against me, I should have waited in silence the issue of my destiny. But in the present state of things, I could not repress my desire of knowing, before I am ruined, the cause for which my ruin is resolved on. And in truth, if you were such men as the Carthaginians are represented,—men who considered the obligation of faith, pledged in alliances, as in no degree sacred, I should not wonder, if you were the less scrupulous with respect to your conduct towards me. But, instead of that, when I look at you, I perceive that you are Romans: men who allow treaties to be the most solemn of religious acts, and faith, pledged therein, Edition: current; Page: [439] the strongest of human ties. Then, when I look back at myself, I am confident I am one who, as a member of the community, am, in common with the rest of the Lacedæmonians, included in a treaty subsisting with you, of very ancient date; and likewise have, lately, during the war with Philip, concluded anew, in my own name, a personal friendship and alliance with you. But I have violated and cancelled that treaty, by holding possession of the city of Argos. In what manner shall I defend this? By the consideration of the fact, or of the time? The consideration of the fact furnishes me with a twofold defence: for, in the first place, in consequence of an invitation from the inhabitants themselves, and of their voluntary act of surrender, I accepted the possession of that city, and did not seize it by force. In the next place, I accepted it, when the city was in league with Philip, not in alliance with you. Then the consideration of the time acquits me, for this reason: that when I was in actual possession of Argos, you entered into an alliance with me, and stipulated that I should send you aid against Philip, not that I should withdraw my garrison from that city. In this dispute, therefore, so far as it relates to Argos, I have unquestionably the advantage, both from the equity of the proceeding, as I gained possession of a city which belonged not to you, but to your enemy; and as I gained it by its own voluntary act, and not by forcible compulsion; and also from your own acknowledgment: since, in the articles of our alliance, you left Argos to me. But then, the name of tyrant, and my conduct, are strong objections against me: that I call forth slaves to a state of freedom; that I carry out the indigent part of the populace, and give them settlements in lands. With respect to the title by which I am styled, I can answer thus: That, let me be what I may, I am the same now, that I was, at the time when you yourself, Titus Quintius, concluded an alliance with me. I remember, that I was then styled King by Edition: current; Page: [440] you; now, I see, I am called tyrant. If, therefore, I had since altered the style of my office, I might be chargeable with fickleness: as you chose to alter it, the charge falls on you. As to what relates to the augmenting the number of the populace, by giving liberty to slaves, and the distribution of lands to the needy: on this head too, I might defend myself on the ground of a reference to the time of the facts charged. These measures, of what complexion soever they are, I had practised before you formed friendship with me, and received my aid in the war against Philip. But, if I did the same things, at this moment, I would not say to you, how did I thereby injure you, or violate the friendship subsisting between us? but, I would insist, that in so doing, I acted agreeably to the practice and institutions of my ancestors. Do not estimate what is done at Lacedæmon, by the standard of your own laws and constitution. I need not compare every particular: you are guided in your choice of a horseman, by the quantity of his property; in your choice of a foot soldier, by the quantity of his property; and your plan is, that a few should abound in wealth, and that the body of the people should be in subjection to them. Our law-giver did not choose that the administration of government should be in the hands of a few, such as you call a senate; or that this or that order of citizens should have a superiority over the rest: but he proposed, by equalizing the property and dignity of all, to multiply the number of those who were to bear arms for their country. I acknowledge that I have enlarged on these matters, beyond what consists with the conciseness customary with my countrymen, and that the sum of the whole might be comprised in few words: that, since I first commenced a friendship with you, I have given you no just cause of displeasure.”

XXXII. The Roman general answered: “We never contracted any friendship or alliance with you, but with Pelops, Edition: current; Page: [441] the right and lawful King of Lacedæmon; whose authority, while the Carthaginian, Gallic, and other wars, succeeding one another, kept us constantly employed, the tyrants, who after him held Lacedæmon under forced subjection, usurped into their own hands, as did you also during the late war with Macedonia. For what could be less consistent with propriety, than that we, who were waging war against Philip, in favour of the liberty of Greece, should contract friendship with a tyrant, and a tyrant who carried his violence and cruelty towards his subjects to as great an excess as any that ever existed. But, even supposing that you had not either seized or held Argos by iniquitous means, it would be incumbent on us, when we are giving liberty to all Greece, to reinstate Lacedæmon also in its ancient freedom, and the enjoyment of its own laws, which you just now spoke of, as if you were another Lycurgus. Shall we take pains to make Philip’s garrisons evacuate Tassus and Bargylii; and shall we leave Lacedæmon and Argos, those two most illustrious cities, formerly the lights of Greece, under your feet, that their continuance in bondage may tarnish our title of deliverers of Greece? But the Argives took part with Philip: we excuse you from taking any concern in that cause, so that you need not be angry with them on our behalf. We have received sufficient proof, that the guilt of that proceeding is chargeable on two only, or, at most, three persons, and not on the state; just, indeed, as in the case of the invitation given to you and to your army, and your reception in the town, not one step was taken by public authority. We know that the Thessalians, Phocians, and Locrians, to a man, unanimously joined in espousing the cause of Philip; and when, notwithstanding this, we have given liberty to all the rest of Greece, how, I ask you, can you suppose we shall conduct ourselves towards the Argives, who are acquitted of having publicly authorised your misconduct? You said, that your inviting Edition: current; Page: [442] slaves to liberty, and the distribution of lands among the indigent, were objected to you as crimes; and crimes, surely, they are, of no small magnitude. But what are they, in comparison with those atrocious deeds, that are daily perpetrated by you and your adherents, in continual succession? Show us a free assembly of the people, either at Argos or Lacedæmon, if you wish to hear a true recital of the crimes of the most abandoned tyranny. To omit all other instances of older date, what a massacre did your son-in-law, Pythagoras, make at Argos, almost before my eyes? What another did you yourself perpetrate, when I was on the borders of Laconia? Now, give orders, that the persons whom you took out of the midst of an assembly, and committed to prison, after declaring, in the hearing of all your countrymen, that you would keep them in custody, be produced in their chains, that their wretched parents may know that they are alive, and have no cause for their mourning. Well, but you say, though all these things were so, Romans, how do they concern you? Can you say this to the deliverers of Greece? to people who crossed the sea in order to deliver it, and have maintained a war, on sea and land, to effect its deliverance? Still you tell us, you have not directly violated the alliance, or the friendship established between us. How many instances must I produce of your having done so? But I will not go into a long detail: I will bring the matter to a short issue. By what acts is friendship violated? Most effectually by these two: by treating our friends as foes, and by uniting yourself with our enemies. Now, which of these has not been done by you? For Messene, which had been united to us in friendship, by one and the same bond of alliance with Lacedæmon, you, while professing yourself our ally, reduced to subjection by force of arms, though you knew it was in alliance with us; and you contracted with Philp, our professed enemy, not only an alliance, but even an affinity, through the intervention Edition: current; Page: [443] of his general, Philocles; and waging actual war against us, with your piratical ships, you made the sea round Malea unsafe, and you captured and slew more Roman citizens almost, than Philip himself; and it was less dangerous for our ships to bring supplies for our armies, by the coast of Macedonia, than by the promontory of Malea. Cease, therefore, to vaunt your good faith, and the obligations of treaties; and, dropping your affectation of popular sentiments, speak as a tyrant, and as an enemy.”

XXXIII. Aristænus then began, at first, to advise, and afterwards even to beseech Nabis, while it was yet in his power, and while the state of affairs permitted, to consider what was best for himself and his interests. He then mentioned the names of several tyrants in the neighbouring states who had resigned their authority, and restored liberty to their people, and afterwards lived to old age, not only in safety, but with the respect of their countrymen. After this conversation had passed, the approach of night broke up the conference. Next day Nabis said, that he was willing to cede Argos, and withdraw his garrison, since such was the desire of the Romans, and to deliver up the prisoners and deserters; and if they demanded any thing farther, he requested that they would set it down in writing, that he might deliberate on it with his friends. Thus the tyrant gained time for consultation, and Quintius also, on his part, called a council, to which he summoned the chiefs of the allies. The greatest part were of opinion, that “they ought to persevere in the war until the tyrant should be stripped of all power; otherwise the liberty of Greece would never be secure. That it would have been much better never to have entered on the war, than to drop it after it was begun; for this would be a kind of approbation of his tyrannical usurpation, and which would establish him more firmly, as giving the countenance of the Roman people to his ill-acquired authority; while the Edition: current; Page: [444] example would quickly spirit up many in other states to plot against the liberty of their countrymen.” The wishes of the general himself tended rather to peace, for he saw, that, as the enemy was shut up in the town, nothing remained but a siege, and that must be very tedious. For it was not Gythium, that they must besiege, though even that place had been gained by capitulation, not by assault; but Lacedæmon, a city most powerful in men and arms. The only hope which they could have formed, was, that, on the first approach of their army, dissensions and insurrections might have been raised within, but, though the standards had been seen to advance almost to the gates, not one person had stirred. To this he added, that “Villius the ambassador, returning from Antiochus, brought intelligence, that nothing but war was to be expected from that quarter; and that the King had come over into Europe with a much more powerful armament by sea and land than before. Now, if the army should be engaged in the siege of Lacedæmon, with what other forces could the war be maintained against a king of his great power and strength?” These arguments he urged openly; but he was influenced by another motive, which he did not avow, his anxiety, lest one of the new consuls should be appointed to the province of Greece; and then the honour of terminating the war, in which he had proceeded so far, must be yielded to a successor.

XXXIV. Finding that he could not, by opposition make any alteration in the sentiments of the allies, by pretending to go over to their opinion, he led them all into a concurrence in his scheme. “Be it so,” said he, “and may success attend us: let us lay siege to Lacedæmon, since that is your choice. However, as a business so slow in its progress, as you know the besieging of cities to be, very often wears out the patience of the besiegers, sooner than that of the besieged, you ought, before you proceed a step farther, to consider, Edition: current; Page: [445] that we must pass the winter under the walls of Lacedæmon. If this tedious enterprize brought only toil and danger, I would recommend to you, to prepare your minds and bodies to support these. But in the present case, vast expenses also will be requisite for the construction of works, for machines and engines, sufficient for the siege of so great a city, and for procuring stores of provisions for the winter to serve you and us: therefore, to prevent your being suddenly disconcerted, or shamefully deserting an enterprize which you had engaged in, I think it will be necessary for you to write home to your respective states, and learn what degree of spirit and of strength each possesses. Of auxiliary troops I have sufficient number, and to spare; but the more numerous we are, the more numerous will be our wants. The country of the enemy has nothing left but the naked soil. Besides, the winter is at hand, which will render it difficult to convey what we may stand in need of from distant places.” This speech first turned their thoughts to the domestic evils prevailing in their several states; the indolence of those who remained at home; the envy and misrepresentations to which those who served abroad were liable; the difficulty of procuring unanimity among men in a state of freedom; the emptiness of the public treasury, and people’s backwardness to contribute out of their private property. These considerations wrought such a sudden change in their inclinations, that they gave full power to the general, to do whatever he judged conducive to the general interest of the Roman people and their allies.

XXXV. Then Quintius, consulting only his lieutenant-generals and military tribunes, drew up the following conditions on which peace should be made with Nabis: “That there should be a suspension of arms for six months, between Nabis on one part, and the Romans, King Eumenes, and the Rhodians on the other. That Titus Quintius and Nabis Edition: current; Page: [446] should immediately send ambassadors to Rome, in order that the peace might be ratified by authority of the senate. That, whatever day a written copy of these conditions should be delivered to Nabis, on that day should the armistice commence; and, within ten days after, his garrisons should be withdrawn from Argos, and all other towns in the territory of the Argives; all which towns should be entirely evacuated, restored to freedom, and in that state delivered to the Romans. That no slave, whether belonging to the King, the public, or a private person, be removed out of any of them; and if any had been removed before, that they be faithfully restored to their owners. That he should give up the ships, which he had taken from the maritime states; and should not have any other than two barks; and these to be navigated with no more than sixteen oars. That he should restore to all the states, in alliance with the Roman people, the prisoners and deserters in his hands; and to the Messenians, all the effects that could be discovered, and which the owners could prove to be their property. That he should, likewise, restore to the exiled Lacedæmonians their children, and their wives, who chose to follow their husbands; provided that no woman should be obliged, against her will, to go with her husband into exile. That such of the mercenary soldiers of Nabis as had deserted him, and gone either to their own countries, or to the Romans, should have all their effects faithfully returned to them. That he should hold possession of no city in the island of Crete; and that such as were then in his possession, should be given up to the Romans. That he should not form any alliance, or wage war, with any of the Cretan states, or with any other. That he should withdraw all his garrisons from those cities which he should give up, and which had put themselves, and their country, under the dominion and protection of the Roman people; and should take care that, in future, neither he, nor any of his Edition: current; Page: [447] subjects, should give them any disturbance. That he should not build any town or fort in his own, or any other territory. That, to secure the performance of these conditions, he should give five hostages, such as the Roman general should choose, and among them his own son; and should pay, at present, one hundred talents of silver; and fifty talents, annually, for eight years.”

XXXVI. These articles were put into writing, and sent into Lacedæmon, the camp having been removed, and brought nearer to the town. The tyrant saw nothing in them that gave him much satisfaction, excepting that, beyond his hopes, no mention had been made of reinstating the exiles. But what mortified him most of all, was, the depriving him of his shipping, and of the maritime towns: for the sea had been a source of great profit to him; his piratical vessels having continually infested the whole coast from the promontory of Malea. Besides, he found in the young men of those towns, recruits for his army, who made by far the best of his soldiers. Though he discussed those conditions in private with his confidential friends, yet, as the ministers in the courts of kings, faithless in other respects, are particularly so with respect to the concealing of secrets, they soon became the subject of common conversation. The public, in general, expressed not so great a disapprobation of the whole of the terms, as did individuals, of the articles particularly affecting themselves. Those who had the wives of the exiles in marriage, or had possessed themselves of any of their property, were provoked, as if they were to lose what was their own, and not to make restitution of what belonged to others. The slaves, who had been set at liberty by the tyrant, perceived plainly, not only that their enfranchisement would be annulled, but that their servitude would be much more severe than it had been before, when they should be again put under the power of their incensed masters. Edition: current; Page: [448] The mercenary soldiers saw, with uneasiness, that, in consequence of a peace, their pay would cease; and they knew also, that they could not return among their own countrymen, who detested not tyrants more than they did their abettors.

XXXVII. They at first spoke of these matters, in their circles, with murmurs of discontent; and afterwards, suddenly ran to arms. From which tumultuous proceeding, the tyrant perceived that the passions of the multitude were of themselves inflamed as highly as he could wish; he, therefore, immediately ordered a general assembly to be summoned. Here he explained to them the terms which the Romans strove to impose, to which he falsely added others, more severe and humiliating. While, on the mention of each particular, sometimes the whole assembly, sometimes different parties raised a shout of disapprobation, he asked them, “What answer they wished him to give; or what they would have him do?” On which all, as it were with one voice, cried out, “To give no answer, to continue the war;” and they began, as is common with a multitude, every one to encourage the rest, to keep up their spirits, and cherish good hopes, observing, that “fortune favours the brave.” Animated by these expressions, the tyrant assured them, that Antiochus, and the Ætolians, would come to their assistance; and that he had, in the mean time, a force abundantly sufficient for the maintenance of a siege. Every thought of peace vanished from their minds, and, unable to contain themselves longer in quiet, they ran out in parties against the advanced guards of the enemy. The sally of these few skirmishers, and the weapons which they threw, immediately demonstrated to the Romans, beyond a doubt, that the war was to continue. During the four following days, several slight encounters took place, without any certain advantage; but, on the fifth day after, in a kind of regular engagement, Edition: current; Page: [449] the Lacedæmonians were beaten back into the town, in such a panick, that several Roman soldiers, pressing close on their rear, entered the city through open spaces, not secured with a wall, of which, at that time, there were several.

XXXVIII. Then Quintius, having, by this repulse, effectually checked the sallies of the enemy, and being fully convinced that he had now no alternative, but must besiege the city, sent persons to bring up all the marine forces from Gythium; and, in the mean time, rode himself, with some military tribunes, round the walls, to take a view of the situation of the place. In former times, Sparta had no wall; of late, the tyrants had built walls, in the places where the ground was open and level; but the higher places, and those more difficult of access, they secured by placingg guards of soldiers instead of fortifications. When he had sufficiently examined every circumstance, he resolved on making a general assault; and, for that purpose, surrounded the city with all his forces, the number of which, Romans and allies, horse and foot, naval and land forces, all together, amounted to fifty thousand men. Some brought scaling-ladders, some firebrands, some other matters, wherewith they might either assail the enemy, or strike terror. The orders were, that on raising the shout, all should advance at once, in order that the Lacedæmonians, being alarmed at the same time in every quarter, might be at a loss where, first, to make head, or whither to bring aid. The main force of his army he formed in three divisions, and ordered one to attack, on the side of the Phœbeum, another on that of the Dictynneum, and the third near a place called Heptagoniæ, all which are open places without walls. Though surrounded on all sides by such a violent alarm, the tyrant, at first, attentive to every sudden shout, and hasty message, either ran up himself, or sent others, wherever the greatest danger pressed; but afterwards, he was so stunned by the horror and confusion that prevailed all around, as to become Edition: current; Page: [450] incapable either of giving proper directions, or of hearing what was said, and to lose, not only his judgment, but almost his reason.

XXXIX. For some time the Lacedæmonians maintained their ground, against the Romans, in the narrow passes; and three armies, on each side, fought, at one time, in different places. Afterwards, when the heat of the contest increased, the combatants were, by no means, on an equal footing: for the Lacedæmonians fought with missile arms, against which, the Roman soldiers, by means of their large shields, easily defended themselves, and many of their blows either missed, or were very weak; for, the narrowness of the place causing them to be closely crowded together, they neither had room to discharge their weapons, with a previous run, which gives great force to them, nor clear and steady footing while they made their throw. Of those therefore, discharged against the front of the Romans, none pierced their bodies, few even their shields: but several were wounded, by those who stood on higher places, on each side of them; and presently, when they advanced a little, they were hurt unawares, both with javelins, and tiles also thrown from the tops of the houses. On this they raised their shields over their heads, and joining them so close together as to leave no room for injury from such random casts, or even for the insertion of a javelin, by a hand within reach, they pressed forward under cover of this tortoise fence. For some time the narrow streets, being thronged with the soldiers of both parties, considerably retarded the progress of the Romans; but when once, by gradually pushing back the enemy, they gained the wider passes, the impetuosity of their attack could no longer be withstood. While the Lacedæmonians, having turned their backs, fled precipitately to the higher places, Nabis, being utterly confounded, as if the town were already taken, began to look about for a way to make his escape. Pythagoras, Edition: current; Page: [451] through the whole affair, displayed the spirit and conduct of a general, and was now the sole means of saving the city from being taken. For he ordered the buildings nearest to the wall to be set on fire; and these being instantly in a blaze, those who, on another occasion, would have brought help to extinguish the fire, now helping to increase it, the roofs tumbled on the Romans; and not only fragments of the tiles, but also the half-burned timber reached the soldiers: the flames spread wide, and the smoke caused a degree of terror even greater than the danger. In consequence, the Romans who were without the city, and were just then advancing to the assault, retired from the wall; and those who were within, fearing lest the fire, rising behind them, should put it out of their power to rejoin the rest of the army, began to retreat. Whereupon Quintius, seeing how matters stood, ordered a general retreat to be sounded.—Thus, after they had almost mastered the city, they were obliged to quit it, and return to their camp.

XL. Quintius, conceiving greater hopes from the fears of the enemy, than from the immediate effect of his operations, kept them in a continual alarm during the three succeeding days; sometimes harassing them with assaults, sometimes inclosing several places with works, so as to leave no passage open for flight. These menaces had such an effect on the tyrant that he again sent Pythagoras to solicit peace. Quintius, at first, rejected him with disdain, ordering him to quit the camp; but afterwards, on his suppliant entreaties, and throwing himself at his feet, he admitted him to an audience in form. The purport of his discourse, at first, was, an offer of implicit submission to the will of the Romans; but this availed nothing, being considered as nugatory and indecisive. The business was, at length, brought to this issue, that a truce should be made on the conditions delivered in writing a few days before, and the money and hostages were accordingly Edition: current; Page: [452] received. While the tyrant was kept shut up by the siege, the Argives, receiving frequent accounts, one after another, that Lacedæmon was on the point of being taken, and having themselves resumed courage on the departure of Pythagoras, with the strongest part of his garrison, looked now with contempt on the small number remaining in the citadel; and, being headed by a person named Archippus, drove the garrison out. They gave Timocrates, of Pellene, leave to retire, with solemn assurances of sparing his life, in consideration of the mildness which he had shown in his government. In the midst of their rejoicing for this eyent, Quintius arrived, after having granted peace to the tyrant, dismissed Eumenes and the Rhodians from Lacedæmon, and sent back his brother, Lucius Quintius, to the fleet.

XLI. The Nemæan games, the most celebrated of all the Roman festivals, and their most splendid public spectacle, had been omitted, at the regular time, on account of the disasters of the war: the state, now, in the fullness of their joy, ordered them to be celebrated on the arrival of the Roman general and his army; and appointed the general himself, president of the games. Many circumstances concurred to render their happiness complete: their countrymen, whom Pythagoras, lately, and, before that, Nabis, had carried away, were brought home from Lacedæmon; those who, on the discovery of the conspiracy by Pythagoras, and when the massacre was already begun, had fled from home, now returned; they saw their liberty restored, after a long interval, and beheld, in their city, the Romans, the authors of its restoration, whose only view, in making war on the tyrant, was, the support of their interest. The freedom of the Argives was, also, solemnly announced, by the voice of a herald, on the very day of the Nemæn games. Whatever pleasure the Achæans felt on Argos being reinstated in the general council of Achaia, it was, in a great measure, allayed by Lacedæmon Edition: current; Page: [453] being left in slavery, and the tyrant close at their side. As to the Ætolians, they loudly railed at that measure in every meeting. They remarked, that “the war with Philip was not ended until he evacuated all the cities of Greece. But Lacedæmon was left to the tyrant, while the lawful king, who had been, at the time, in the Roman camp, and others, the noblest of the citizens, must live in exile: so that the Roman nation was become a partizan of Nabis’s tyranny.” Quintius led back his army to Elatia, whence he had set out to the Spartan war. Some writers say, that the tyrant’s method of carrying on hostilities was not by sallies from the city, but that he encamped in the face of the Romans; and that, after he had declined fighting a long time, waiting for succours from the Ætolians, he was forced to come to an engagement, by an attack which the Romans made on his foragers, when, being defeated in that battle, and beaten out of his camp, he sued for peace, after fifteen thousand of his men had been killed, and more than four thousand made prisoners.

XLII. Nearly at the same time, arrived at Rome a letter from Titus Quintius, with an account of his proceedings at Lacedæmon; and another, out of Spain, from Marcus Porcius, the consul; whereupon the senate decreed a supplication, for three days, in the name of each. The other consul, Lucius Valerius, as his province had remained quiet since the defeat of the Boians at the wood of Litana, came home to Rome to hold the elections. Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, a second time, and Tiberius Sempronius Longus, were elected consuls. The fathers of these two had been consuls in the first year of the second Punic war. The election of prætors was then held, and the choice fell on Publius Cornelius Scipio, two Cneius Corneliuses, Merenda, and Blasio, Cneius Domitius Ænobarbus, Sextus Digitius, and Titus Juvencius Thalna. As soon as the elections were Edition: current; Page: [454] finished, the consul returned to his province. The inhabitants of Ferentinum, this year, laid claim to a privilege unheard of before: that Latines, giving in their names for a Roman colony, should be deemed citizens of Rome. Some colonists, who had given in their names for Puteoli, Salernum, and Buxentum, assumed, on that ground, the character of Roman citizens; but the senate determined that they were not.

Y.R.558. bc194.XLIII. In the beginning of the year, wherein Publius Scipio Africanus, a second time, and Tiberius Sempronius Longus were consuls, two ambassadors from the tyrant Nabis came to Rome. The senate gave them audience in the temple of Apollo, outside the city. They entreated, that a peace might be concluded on the terms settled with Quintius, which was granted. When the question was put concerning the provinces, the majority of the senate were of opinion, that, as the wars in Spain and Macedonia were at an end, Italy should be the province of both the consuls: but Scipio contended that one consul was sufficient for Italy, and that Macedonia ought to be decreed to the other; that “there was every reason to apprehend a dangerous war with Antiochus, for he had already, of his own accord, come into Europe; and how did they suppose he would act in future, when he should be encouraged to a war, on one hand, by the Ætolians, avowed enemies of their state, and stimulated, on the other, by Hannibal, a general famous for his victories over the Romans?” While the consular provinces were in dispute, the prætors cast lots for theirs. The city jurisdiction fell to Cneius Domitius; the foreign, to Titus Juvencius; Farther Spain, to Publius Cornelius; Hither Spain, to Sextus Digitius; Sicily, to Cneius Cornelius Blasio; Sardinia, to Cneius Cornelius Merenda. It was resolved, that no new army should be sent into Macedonia, but that the one which was there should be brought Edition: current; Page: [455] home to Italy by Quintius, and disbanded; that the army which was in Spain, under Marcus Porcius Cato, should likewise be disbanded; that Italy should be the province of both the consuls, for the defence of which they should raise two city legions; so that, after the disbanding of the armies, mentioned in the resolution of the senate, the whole military establishment should consist of eight Roman legions.

XLIV. A sacred spring had been celebrated, in the preceding year, during the consulate of Marcus Porcius and Lucius Valerius; but Publius Licinius, one of the pontiffs, having made a report, first, to the college of pontiffs, and afterwards, by their direction, to the senate, that it had not been duly performed, a vote was passed, that it should be celebrated anew, under the direction of the pontiffs; and that the great games, vowed together with it, should be exhibited at the usual expense: that the sacred spring should be deemed to comprehend all the cattle born between the calends of March, and the day preceding the calends of May, in the year of the consulate of Publius Cornelius Scipio and Tiberius Sempronius Longus. Then followed the election of censors. Sextus Ælius Pætus, and Caius Cornelius Cethegus, being created censors, named as prince of the senate, the consul Publius Scipio, whom the former censors likewise had appointed. They passed by only three senators in the whole, none of whom had enjoyed the honour of a curule office. They obtained, on another account, the highest degree of credit with that body; for, at the celebration of the Roman games, they ordered the curule ædiles to set apart places for the senators, distinct from those of the people, whereas, hitherto, all the spectators used to sit promiscuously. Of the knights, also, very few were deprived of their horses; nor was severity shown towards any rank of men. The gallery of the temple of Liberty, and the Villa Publica, were repaired and enlarged by the same censors. The sacred spring, Edition: current; Page: [456] and the votive games, were celebrated, pursuant to the vow of Servius Sulpicius Galba, when consul. While every one’s thoughts were engaged by the shows then exhibited, Quintus Pleminius, who, for the many crimes, against gods and men, committed by him at Locri, had been thrown into prison, procured men who were to set fire, by night, to several parts of the city at once; in order that, during the general consternation, which such a disturbance would occasion, the prison might be broken open. But some of the accomplices discovered the design, and the affair was laid before the senate. Pleminius was thrown into the dungeon, and there put to death.

XLV. In this year, colonies of Roman citizens were settled at Puteoli, Vulturnum, and Liturnum; three hundred men in each place. The lands allotted to them had formerly belonged to the Campanians. Colonies of Roman citizens were likewise established at Salernum and Buxentum. The commissioners for conducting these settlements were, Tiberius Sempronius Longus, then consul, Marcus Servilius, and Quintus Minucius Thermus. Other commissioners, also, Decius Junius Brutus, Marcus Bæbius Tamphilus, and Marcus Helvius, led a colony of Roman citizens to Sipontum, into a district which had belonged to the Arpinians. To Tempsa, likewise, and to Croto, colonies of Roman citizens were led out. The lands of Tempsa had been taken from the Bruttians, who had formerly expelled the Greeks from them. Croto was possessed by Greeks. In ordering these establishments, there were named, for Croto,—Cneius Octavius, Lucius Æmilius Paullus, and Caius Pletorius; for Tempsa,—Lucius Cornelius Merula, and Caius Salonius. Several prodigies were observed at Rome that year, and others reported, from other places. In the Forum, Comitium, and Capitol, drops of blood were seen, and several showers of earth fell, and the head of Vulcan was surrounded Edition: current; Page: [457] with a blaze of fire. It was reported, that a stream of milk ran in the river at Interamna; that, in some reputable families at Ariminum, children were born without eyes and nose; and one, in the territory of Picenum, that had neither hands nor feet. These prodigies were expiated, according to an order of the pontiffs; and the nine days festival was celebrated, in consequence of a report from Adria, that a shower of stones had fallen in that neighbourhood.

XLVI. In Gaul, Lucius Valerius Flaccus, proconsul, in a pitched battle near Mediolanum, completely overthrew the Insubrian Gauls, and the Boians; who, under the command of Dorulacus, had crossed the Po, to rouse the Insubrians to arms. Ten thousand of the enemy were slain. About this time his colleague, Marcus Porcius Cato, triumphed over Spain. He carried in the procession twenty-five thousand pounds weight of unwrought silver, one hundred and three thousand silver denariuses,* five hundred and forty of Oscan silver,† and one thousand four hundred pounds weight of gold. Out of the booty, he distributed to each of his soldiers two hundred and seventy asses;‡ double that sum to each centurion, and triple to each horseman. Tiberius Sempronius, consul, proceeding to his province, led his legions, first, into the territory of the Boians. At this time Boiorix, their chieftain, with his two brothers, after having drawn out the whole nation into the field to renew the war, pitched his camp on level ground, with an evident intention to fight the enemy, in case they should pass the frontiers. When the consul understood what a numerous force, and what a degree of resolution the enemy had, he sent an express to his colleague, requesting him, “if he thought proper, to hasten to join him;” adding, that “he would act on the defensive, and defer engaging in battle, until his arrival.” The same reason Edition: current; Page: [458] which made the consul wish to decline an action, induced the Gauls, whose spirits were raised by the backwardness of their antagonists, to bring it on as soon as possible, that they might finish the affair before the two consuls should unite their forces. However, during two days, they did nothing more than stand in readiness for battle, if any should come out against them. On the third, they advanced furiously to the rampart, and assaulted the camp on every side at once. The consul, immediately, ordered his men to take arms, and kept them quiet, under arms, for some time; both to add to the foolish confidence of the enemy, and to arrange his troops at the gates, through which each party was to sally out. The two legions were ordered to march by the two principal gates; but, in the very pass of the gates, the Gauls opposed them in such close bodies as to stop up the way. The fight was maintained a long time in these narrow passes; nor were their hands or swords much employed in the business, but pushing with their shields and bodies, they pressed against each other, the Romans struggling to force their way out, the Gauls to break into the camp, or, at least, to hinder the Romans from issuing forth. However, neither party could make the least impression on the other, until Quintus Victorius, a first centurion, and Caius Atinius, a military tribune, the former of the second, the latter of the fourth legion, had recourse to an expedient often tried in desperate cases; snatching the standards from the officers who carried them, and throwing them among the enemy. In the struggle to recover the standards, the men of the second legion, first, made their way out of the gate.

XLVII. These were now fighting on the outside of the rampart, the fourth legion still entangled in the gate, when a new alarm arose on the opposite side of the camp. The Gauls had broke in by the Quæstorian Gate, and had slain the quæstor, Lucius Postumius, surnamed Tympanus, with Edition: current; Page: [459] Marcus Atinius and Publius Sempronius, præfects of the allies, who made an obstinate resistance; and also, near two hundred soldiers. The enemy were masters of that part of the camp, until a cohort of those which are called Extraordinaries, sent by the consul to defend the Quæstorian Gate, killed some who had got within the rampart, drove out the rest, and opposed others who were attempting to break in. About the same time, the fourth legion, and two cohorts of Extraordinaries, burst out of the gate; and thus there were three battles, in different places, round the camp; while the various kinds of shouts raised by them, called off the attention of the combatants from the fight in which they themselves were immediately engaged, to the dangers which threatened their friends. The battle was maintained until mid-day with equal strength, and with nearly equal hopes. At length, the fatigue and heat so far got the better of the soft relaxed bodies of the Gauls, who are incapable of enduring thirst, as to make most of them give up the fight; and the few who stood their ground were attacked by the Romans, routed, and driven to their camp. The consul then gave the signal for retreat, which the greater part obeyed; but some, eager to continue the fight, and hoping to get possession of the camp, pressed forward to the rampart, on which the Gauls, despising their small number, rushed out in a body. The Romans were then routed in turn, and compelled, by their own fear and dismay, to retreat to their camp, which they had refused to do at the command of their general. Thus both parties experienced, in turn, the vicissitudes of flight and victory. The Gauls, however, had eleven thousand killed, the Romans but five thousand. The Gauls retreated into the heart of their country, and the consul led his legions to Placentia. Some writers say, that Scipio, after joining his forces to those of his colleague, overran and plundered the country of the Boians and Ligurians, as far as the Edition: current; Page: [460] woods and marshes suffered him to proceed; others that, without having effected any thing material, he returned to Rome to hold the elections.

XLVIII. Titus Quintius passed the entire winter season of this year at Elatia, where he had established the winterquarters of his army, in adjusting political arrangements, and reversing the measures which had been introduced in the several states under the arbitrary domination of Philip and his deputies, while they crushed the rights and liberties of others, in order to augment the power of those who formed a faction in their favour. Early in the spring he came to Corinth, where he had summoned a general convention. Ambassadors having attended from every one of the states, so as to form a numerous assembly, he addressed them in a long speech, in which, beginning from the first commencement of friendship between the Romans and the nation of the Greeks, he enumerated the proceedings of the commanders who had been in Macedonia before him, and likewise his own. His whole narration was heard with the warmest approbation, until he came to make mention of Nabis; and then they expressed their opinion, that it was utterly inconsistent with the character of the deliverer of Greece, to have left seated, in the centre of one of its most respectable states, a tyrant, who was not only insupportable to his own country, but a terror to all the states in his neighbourhood. Whereupon Quintius, who well knew their sentiments on the occasion, freely acknowledged, that “if the business could have been accomplished without the entire destruction of Lacedæmon, no mention of peace with the tyrant ought ever to have been listened to; but that, as the case stood, when it was not possible to crush him without involving the city in utter ruin, it was judged more eligible to leave Nabis in a state of debility, stripped of almost every kind of power to do injury, than to suffer the city, which must have perished in the very process of its delivery Edition: current; Page: [461] being effectuated, to sink under remedies too violent for it to support.”

XLIX. To the recital of matters past, he subjoined, that “his intention was to depart shortly for Italy, and to carry with him all his troops; that they should hear, within ten days, of the garrisons having evacuated Demetrias; and that Chalcis, the citadel of Corinth, should instantly be delivered up to the Achæans: that all the world might know which deserved better the character of deceivers, the Romans or the Ætolians, who had spread insinuations, that when the cause of liberty was intrusted to the Romans it was put into dangerous hands, and that they had only changed masters, being subjugated now to the Romans, as formerly to the Macedonians. But they were men who never scrupled what they either said or did. The rest of the nations, he advised, to form their estimate of friends from deeds, not from words; and to satisfy themselves whom they ought to trust, and against whom they ought to be on their guard; to use liberty with moderation: for, when regulated by prudence, it was productive of happiness both to individuals and to states; but, when pushed to excess, it became not only obnoxious to others, but precipitated the possessors of it themselves into dangerous rashness and extravagance. He recommended, that those at the head of affairs, and all the several ranks of men in each particular state, should cultivate harmony between themselves; and that all should direct their views to the general interest of the whole. For, while they acted in concert, no king or tyrant would ever be able to overpower them: but discord and dissension gave every advantage to the arts of an adversary; as the party worsted in a domestic dispute, generally chose to unite with foreigners, rather than submit to a countryman of their own. He then exhorted them, as the arms of others had procured their liberty, and the good faith of foreigners had returned it safe Edition: current; Page: [462] into their hands, to apply now their own diligent care to the watching and guarding of it; that the Roman people might perceive, that those on whom they had bestowed liberty were deserving of it, and that their kindness was not ill placed.”

L. On hearing these admonitions, such as parental tenderness might dictate, every one present shed tears of joy; and so great were their transports, that they affected his feelings to such a degree as to interrupt his discourse. For some time a confused noise prevailed, all together expressing their approbation, and charging each other to treasure up those expressions in their minds and hearts, as if they had been uttered by an oracle. Then silence ensuing, he requested of them to make diligent search for such Roman citizens as were in servitude among them, and to send them into Thessaly to him, within two months; observing, that “it would not redound to their honour, if, in a land restored to liberty, its deliverers should remain in servitude.” This was answered with a shout of applause; and they acknowledged, as an obligation added to the rest, his reminding them of the discharge of a duty so indispensably incumbent on their gratitude. There was a vast number of these who had been made prisoners in the Punic war, and sold by Hannibal when their countrymen refused to ransom them. That they were very numerous, is proved by what Polybius says, that this business cost the Achæans one hundred talents*, though they had fixed the price to be paid for each captive, to the owner, so low as five hundred denariuses†. For, at that rate, there were one thousand two hundred in Achaia. Calculate now, in proportion to this, how many were probably in all Greece.

LI. Before the convention broke up, they saw the garrison march down from the citadel of Corinth, proceed forward to the gate, and depart. The general followed them, accompanied by the whole assembly, who, with loud acclamations, Edition: current; Page: [463] blessed him as their preserver and deliverer. At length taking leave of these, and dismissing them he returned to Elatia by the same road through which he came. He thence sent Appius Claudius, lieutenant-general, with all the troops, ordering him to march through Thessaly and Epirus, and to wait for him at Oricum, where he intended to embark the army for Italy. He also wrote to his brother, Lucius Quintius, lieutenant-general, and commander of the fleet, to collect thither transport ships from all the coasts of Greece. He himself proceeded to Chalcis; and, after sending away the garrisons, not only from that city, but likewise from Oreum and Eretria, he held there a congress of the Eubœan states, whom he reminded of the condition in which he had found their affairs, and of that in which he was leaving them; and then dismissed the assembly. He then proceeded to Demetrias, and removed the garrison. Accompanied by all the citizens, as at Corinth and Chalcis, he pursued his route into Thessaly, where the states were not only to be set at liberty, but also to be reduced, from a state of utter anarchy and confusion, into some tolerable form: for they had been thrown into disorder, not only through the faults of the times, and the arbitrary acts of the king and his adherents, but also through the restless disposition of the nation, who, from the earliest times, even to our days, have never conducted any election, or assembly, or council, without dissensions and tumult. He chose both senators and judges, with regard, principally, to their property, and vested the chief share of power in that part of the state which was more particularly interested in its safety and tranquillity.

LII. When he had completed these regulations in Thessaly, he went on, through Epirus, to Oricum, whence he intended to take his passage; all the troops being transported thence to Brundusium. From this place to the city, they Edition: current; Page: [464] passed the whole length of Italy, in a manner, like a triumph; the captured effects, which they brought with them, forming a train as large as that of the troops themselves. When they arrived at Rome, the senate assembled outside the city, to receive from Quintius a recital of his services; and, with high satisfaction, voted him a triumph, which he had so justly merited. His triumph lasted three days. On the first day were carried in procession, armour, weapons, brazen and marble statues, of which he had taken greater numbers from Philip, than from the states of Greece. On the second, gold and silver wrought, unwrought, and coined. Of unwrought silver, there were eighteen thousand pounds weight; and, of wrought, two hundred and seventy thousand; consisting of many vessels of various sorts, most of them engraved, and several of exquisite workmanship; also a great many others made of brass, and, besides these, ten shields of silver. The coined silver amounted to eighty-four thousand of the Attic coin, called Tetradrachmus, containing each, of silver, about the weight of four denariuses*. Of gold there were three thousand seven hundred and fourteen pounds, and one shield of massy gold; and of the gold coin, called Philippics, fourteen thousand five hundred and fourteen†. On the third day were carried golden crowns, presented by the several states, in number one hundred and fourteen; then the victims. Before his chariot went many illustrious captives, with the hostages, among whom were Demetrius, son of King Philip, and Armenes, a Lacedæmonian, son of the tyrant Nabis. Then Quintius himself rode into the city, followed by a numerous body of soldiers, as the whole army had been brought home from the province. Among these he distributed two hundred and fifty asses‡ to each footman, double to a centurion, triple to a horseman. Those who had been redeemed from Edition: current; Page: [465] captivity, added to the grandeur of the procession, walking after him with their heads shaven.

LIII. In the latter part of this year, Quintus Ælius Tubero, plebeian tribune, in pursuance of a decree of senate, proposed to the people, and the people ordered, that “two Latine colonies should be settled, one in Bruttium, the other in the territory of Thurium.” For making these settlements, commissioners were appointed, who were to hold the office for three years: for Bruttium, Quintus Nævius, Marcus Minucius Rufus, and Marcus Furius Crassipes; and for the district of Thurium, Cneius Manlius, Quintus Ælius, and Lucius Apustius. The assemblies of election to these two appointments were held in the Capitol by Cneius Domitius, city prætor. Several temples were dedicated this year: one of Juno Sospita, in the herb-market, vowed and contracted for four years before, in the time of the Gallic war, by Cneius Cornelius, consul; and the same person, now censor, performed the dedication. Another of Faunus, the building of which had been agreed for two years before, and a fund formed for it, out of fines estreated by the ædiles, Caius Scribonius and Cneius Domitius; the latter of whom, now city prætor, dedicated it. Quintus Marcius Ralla, constituted commissioner for the purpose, dedicated the temple of Fortuna Primigenia, on the Quirinal Hill. Publius Sempronius Sophus had vowed this temple ten years before, in the Punic war; and, being afterwards censor, had employed persons to build it. Caius Servilius, duumvir, also dedicated a temple of Jupiter, in the island. This had been vowed in the Gallic war, six years before, by Lucius Furius Purpureo, who afterwards, when consul, contracted for the building. Such were the transactions of that year.

LIV. Publius Scipio came home from his province of Gaul to choose new consuls; and the people, in assembly, elected Lucius Cornelius Merula, and Quintus Minucius Thermus. Edition: current; Page: [466] Next day, were chosen prætors, Lucius Cornelius Scipio, Marcus Fulvius Nobilior, Cains Scribonius, Marcus Valerius Messala, Lucius Porcius Licinus, and Caius Flaminius. The curule ædiles of this year, Caius Atilius Serranus and Lucius Scribonius, first exhibited the Megalesian games, in which were introduced performances on the stage. At the Roman games, celebrated by these ædiles, the senators, for the first time, sat separate from the people, which, as every innovation usually does, gave occasion to various observations. Some considered this as “an honour, shown at length to that most respectable body, and which ought to have been done long before;” while others contended, that “every addition, made to the grandeur of the senate, was a diminution of the dignity of the people; and that all such distinctions, as tended to set the orders of the state at a distance from each other, were equally subversive of liberty and concord. During five hundred and fifty-eight years,” they asserted, “all the spectators had sat promiscuously: what reason then, had now occurred, on a sudden that should make the senators disdain to have the commons intermixed with them, or make the rich scorn to sit in company with the poor? It was an unprecedented gratification of pride, and overbearing vanity, never even desired, or certainly not assumed, by the senate of any other nation.” It is said, that even Africanus himself, at last, became sorry for having proposed that matter in his consulship: so difficult is it to bring people to approve of any alteration of ancient customs; they are always naturally disposed to adhere to old practices, unless experience evidently proves their inexpediency.

LV. In the beginning of the year, which was the consulate of Lucius Cornelius and Quintus Minucius, such frequent reports of earthquakes were brought, that people grew weary, not only of the matter itself, but of the religious rites enjoined in consequence; for neither could the senate be convened, nor the business of the public be transacted, the consuls Edition: current; Page: [467] were so constantly employed in sacrifices and expiations. At last, the decemvirs were ordered to consult the books, and, in pursuance of their answer, a supplication was performed, during three days. People offered prayers at all the shrines, with garlands on their heads. An order was published, that all the persons belonging to one family should pay their worship together; and the consuls, by direction of the senate, published an edict, that, on any day, whereon religious rites should be ordered, in consequence of the report of an earthquake, no person should report another earthquake on that day. Then the consuls first, afterwards the prætors, cast lots for their provinces. Cornelius obtained Gaul; Minucius, Liguria; Caius Scribonius, the city jurisdiction; Marcus Valerius, the foreign; Lucius Cornelius, Sicily; Lucius Porcius, Sardinia; Caius Flaminius, Hither Spain; and Marcus Fulvius, Farther Spain.

LVI. While the consuls supposed, that, for that year, they should have no employment in the military line, a letter was brought from Marcus Cincius, who was commander at Pisæ, announcing, that twenty thousand armed Ligurians, in consequence of a conspiracy of that whole nation, formed in the meetings of their several districts, had, first, wasted the lands of Luna, and then passing through the territory of Pisæ, had overrun the whole sea coast.” In consequence of this intelligence, the consul, Minucius, whose province Liguria was, by direction of the senate, mounted the rostrum, and published orders, that, “the two legions, enlisted the year before, should, on the tenth day from that, attend him at Arretium; and mentioned his intention of levying two legions, for the city, in their stead.Y.R. 559. bc 193. He likewise gave notice to the magistrates and ambassadors of such of the allies*, and of the Latine confederates, as were Edition: current; Page: [468] bound to furnish soldiers, to attend him in the Capitol. Or these the wrote out a list, amounting to fifteen thousand foot, and five hundred horse, proportioning the contingent of each state to the number of its young men, and ordered those present to go directly from the spot to the gate of the city; and, in order to expedite the business, to proceed to their homes to raise the men. To Fulvius and Flaminius were assigned equal numbers of men, to each three thousand Roman foot, and a reinforcement of one hundred horse, with five thousand foot of the Latine allies, and two hundred horse; and orders were given to those prætors, to disband the old troops immediately on their arrival in their provinces. Although great numbers of the soldiers belonging to the city legions had made application to the plebeian tribunes, to take cognizance of the cases of such men as claimed exemption from the service, on account either of having served out their time, or of bad health; yet a letter from Tiberius Sempronius banished all thoughts of such proceeding; for he sent an account, that “fifteen thousand of the Ligurians had come into the lands of Placentia, and wasted them with fire and sword, to the very walls of that city and the bank of the Po; and that the Boian nation also appeared disposed to renew hostilities.” In consequence of this information, the senate passed a vote, that “there was a Gallic tumult subsisting,” and that “it would be improper for the plebeian tribunes to take cognizance of the claims of the soldiers, so as to prevent their attending, pursuant to the proclamation; and they added an order, that the Latine confederates, who had served in the army of Publius Cornelius and Tiberius Sempronius, and had been discharged by those consuls, should reassemble, on whatever day and in whatever place of Etruria the consul Lucius Edition: current; Page: [469] Cornelius should appoint; and that the consul Lucius Cornelius, on his way to his province, should enlist, arm, and carry with him all such persons as he should think fit, in the several towns and countries through which he was to pass, and should have authority to discharge such of them, and at such times, as he might judge proper.

LVII. After the consuls had finished the levies, and were gone to their provinces, Titus Quintius demanded, that “the senate should receive an account of the regulations which he in concert with the ten ambassadors, had settled; and, if they thought proper, ratify them by their authority.” He told them, that “it would facilitate this business, if they were first to give audience to the ambassadors, who had come from all parts of Greece, and a great part of Asia, and to those from the two Kings.” These embassies were introduced to the senate, by the city prætor Caius Scribonius, and all received kind answers. As the discussion of the affair with Antiochus required too much time, it was referred to the ten ambassadors, some of whom had conferred with the King in Asia, or at Lysimachia. Directions were given to Titus Quintius, that, in conjunction with these, he should hear what the King’s ambassadors had to say, and should give them such answer as comported with the dignity and interest of the Roman people. At the head of the embassy were Menippus and Hegesianax; the former of whom said, that “he could not conceive what intricacy there was in the business of their embassy, as they came simply to ask friendship, and conclude an alliance. Now, there were three kinds of treaties, by which kings and states formed friendships with each other: one, when terms were dictated to a people vanquished in war; for after every thing has been surrendered to him who has proved superior in war, he has the sole power of judging and determining what share shall remain to the vanquished, and what they shall forfeit. The second, Edition: current; Page: [470] when parties, equally matched in war, conclude a treaty of peace and friendship on terms of equality; for then demands are proposed and restitution made, reciprocally, in a convention; and if, in consequence of the war, confusion has arisen with respect to any parts of their properties, the matter is adjusted on the footing either of ancient right or of the mutual convenience of the parties. The third kind was, when parties who had never been foes, met to form a friendly union by a social treaty: these neither dictate nor receive terms, for that is the case between a victor and a party vanquished. As Antiochus came under this last description, he wondered, he said, at the Romans taking upon them to dictate terms to him; and to prescribe, which of the cities of Asia they chose should be free and independent, which tributary, and which of them the King’s troops and the King himself should be prohibited to enter. This might be a proper method of concluding a peace with Philip, who was their enemy, but not of making a treaty of alliance with Antiochus, their friend.”

LVIII. To this Quintius answered: “Since you choose to deal methodically, and enumerate the several modes of contracting amity, I also will lay down two conditions, without which, you may tell your King, that he must not expect to contract any friendship with the Romans. One, that, if he does not choose that we should concern ourselves in the affairs of the cities of Asia, he must refrain from interfering, in any particular, with the affairs of Europe. The other, that if he does not confine himself within the limits of Asia, but passes over into Europe, the Romans will think themselves at full liberty to maintain the friendships which they have already formed with the states of Asia, and also to contract new ones.” On this Hegesianax exclaimed, that “such propositions were highly improper to be listened to, as their tendency was to exclude Antiochus from the cities of Thrace Edition: current; Page: [471] and the Chersonese,—places which his great-grandfather, Seleucus, had acquired with great honour, after vanquishing Lysimachus in war, and killing him in battle, and had left to his successors; and part of which, after they had been seized by the Thracians, Antiochus had, with equal honour, recovered by force of arms; as well as others which had been deserted,—as Lysimachia, for instance, he had repeopled, by calling home the inhabitants;—and several, which had been destroyed by fire, and buried in ruins, he had rebuilt at a vast expense. What kind of resemblance was there, then, in the cases of Antiochus being ejected from possessions so acquired, so recovered; and of the Romans refraining from intermeddling with Asia, to which they never had any claim? Antiochus wished to obtain the friendship of the Romans; but he wished it on terms that would redound to his honour, not to his shame.” In reply to this, Quintius said,—“Since honour is the point on which our disquisitions turn, and which, indeed, with a people who held the first rank among the nations of the world, and with so great a King, ought to be the sole, or at least the primary object of regard; tell me, I pray you, which do you think more honourable, to wish to give liberty to all the Grecian cities in every part of the world; or to make them slaves and vassals? Since Antiochus thinks it conducive to his glory, to reduce to slavery those cities, which his great-grandfather held by the right of arms, but which his grandfather or father never occupied as their property; while the Roman people, having undertaken the patronage of the liberty of the Greeks, deem it incumbent on their faith and constancy not to abandon it. As they have delivered Greece from Philip, so they intend to deliver, from Antiochus, all the states of Asia which are of the Grecian race. For colonies were not sent into Æolia and Ionia to be enslaved to kings; but with Edition: current; Page: [472] design to increase the population, and to propagate that ancient race in every part of the globe.”

LIX. Hegesianax hesitating, as he could not deny, that the cause, which professed the bestowing of liberty, carried a more honourable semblance than one that pointed to slavery, Publius Sulpicius, who was the eldest of the ten ambassadors, said,—“Let us cut the matter short. Choose one of the two conditions clearly propounded just now by Quintius; or cease to speak of friendship.” But Menippus replied: “We neither will, nor can, accede to any proposition, which tends to lessen the dominions of Antiochus.” Next day, Quintius brought into the senate-house all the ambassadors of Greece and Asia, in order that they might learn the dispositions entertained by the Roman people, and by Antiochus, towards the Grecian states. He then acquainted them with his own demands, and those of the King; and desired them to “assure their respective states, that the same disinterested zeal and courage, which the Roman people had displayed in defence of their liberty against the encroachments of Philip, they would, likewise, exert against those of Antiochus, if he should refuse to retire out of Europe.” On this, Menippus earnestly besought Quintius and the senate, “not to be hasty in forming their determination, which, in its effects, might disturb the peace of the whole world; to take time to themselves, and allow the King time for consideration; that, when informed of the conditions proposed, he would consider them, and either obtain some relaxation in the terms, or accede to them.” Accordingly, the business was deferred entire; and a resolution passed, that the same ambassadors should be sent to the King, who had attended him at Lysimachia,—Publius Sulpicius, Publius Villius, and Publius Ælius.

LX. Scarcely had these begun their journey, when ambassadors from Carthage brought information, that Antiochus Edition: current; Page: [473] was evidently preparing for war, and that Hannibal was employed in his service; which gave reason to fear, that the Carthaginians might take arms at the same time. Hannibal, on leaving his own country, had gone to Antiochus, as was mentioned before, and was held by the King in high estimation, not so much for his other qualification, as because, to a person who had long been revolving schemes for a war with Rome, there could not be any fitter counsellor to confer with on such a subject. His opinion was always one and the same: that Italy should be made the seat of the war; because “Italy would supply a foreign enemy both with men and provisions; but, if it were left in quiet, and the Roman people were allowed to employ the strength and forces of Italy, in making war in any other country, no king or nation would be able to cope with them.” He demanded, for himself, one hundred decked ships, ten thousand foot, and one thousand horse. “With this force,” he said, “he would first repair to Africa; and he had confident hopes, that he should be able to prevail on the Carthaginians to revive hostilities. If they should hesitate, he would raise a war against the Romans in some part of Italy. That the King ought to cross over into Europe with all the rest of his force, and keep his army in some part of Greece; not to pass over immediately into Italy, but to be in readiness to do so; which would be sufficient to give the war a formidable appearance, and impress a terrifying notion of its magnitude.”

LXI. When he had brought the King to agree in his opinion, he judged it necessary to predispose the minds of his countrymen in favour of the design; but he durst not send a letter, lest it might, by some accident, be intercepted, and his plans by that means be discovered. He had found at Ephesus a Tyrian called Aristo, and, in several less important commissions, had discovered him to possess a good degree of ingenuity. This man he now loaded with presents Edition: current; Page: [474] and promises of rewards, which were confirmed by the King himself, and sent him to Carthage with messages to his friends. He told him the names of the persons to whom they were to be delivered, and furnished him with secret tokens, by which they would know, with certainty, that the messages came from him. On this Aristo’s appearing at Carthage, the reason of his coming was not discovered by Hannibal’s friends sooner than by his enemies. At first, they spoke of the matter publicly, in their circles and at their tables; and at last some persons declared in the senate, that “the banishment of Hannibal answered no purpose, if, while resident in another country, he was still able to propagate designs for changing the administration, and disturb the quiet of the state by his intrigues. That a Tyrian stranger, named Aristo, had come with a commission from Hannibal and King Antiochus; that certain men daily held secret conferences with him, and caballed in private, the consequences of which would soon break out, to the ruin of the public.” This produced a general outcry, “that Aristo ought to be summoned, and examined respecting the reason of his coming; and if he did not disclose it, to be sent to Rome, with ambassadors accompanying him; that they had already suffered enough of punishment in atonement of the headstrong rashness of one individual; that the faults of private citizens should be at their own risk, and the state should be preserved free, not only from guilt, but even from the suspicion of it.” Aristo, being summoned, contended for his innocence; and urged, as his strongest defence, that he had brought no letter to any person whatever: but he gave no satisfactory reason for his coming, and was chiefly embarrassed to obviate the charge of conversing solely with men of the Barcine faction. A warm debate ensued; some earnestly pressing, that he should be immediately seized as a spy, and kept in custody; while others insisted, that there were not sufficient grounds Edition: current; Page: [475] for such violent measures; that “putting strangers into confinement, without reason, was a step that afforded a bad precedent; for doubtless the same treatment would be retaliated on the Carthaginians at Tyre, and other marts, where they frequently traded.” They came to no determination that day. Aristo practised on the Carthaginians an artifice suited to their own genius; for, having early in the evening hung up a written tablet, in the most frequented place of the city, over the tribunal where the magistrates daily sat, he went on board his ship at the third watch, and fled. Next day, when the suffetes had taken their seats to administer justice, the tablet was observed, taken down, and read. Its contents were, that “Aristo came not with a private commission to any person, but with a public one to the elders;” by this name they called the senate. The imputation being thus thrown on the state, less pains were taken in searching into the suspicions harboured of a few individuals: however, it was determined, that ambassadors should be sent to Rome, to represent the affair to the consuls and the senate, and, at the same time, to complain of injuries received from Masinissa.

LXII. When Masinissa observed, that the Carthaginians were looked on with jealousy by others, and were full of dissensions among themselves; the nobles being suspected by the senate, on account of their conferences with Aristo, and the senate by the people, in consequence of the information given by the same Aristo, he thought that, at such a conjuncture, he might successfully encroach on their rights; and accordingly he laid waste their country, along the seacoast, and compelled several cities, which were tributary to the Carthaginians, to pay their taxes to him. This tract they call Emporia; it forms the shore of the lesser Syrtis, and has a fertile soil; one of its cities is Leptis, which paid a tribute to the Carthaginians of a talent a day. At this time, Masinissa not only ravaged that whole tract, but, with respect Edition: current; Page: [476] to a considerable part of it, disputed the right of possession with the Carthaginians; and when he learned that they were sending to Rome, both to justify their conduct, and, at the same time, to make complaints of him, he likewise sent ambassadors to Rome, to aggravate the suspicions entertained of them, and to manage the dispute about the right to the taxes. The Carthaginians were heard first, and their account of the Tyrian stranger gave the senate no small uneasiness, as they dreaded being involved in war with Antiochus and the Carthaginians at the same time. What contributed chiefly to strengthen a suspicion of evil designs, was, that though they had resolved to seize Aristo, and send him to Rome, they had not placed a guard either on himself, or his ship. Then began the controversy with the King’s ambassadors, on the claims of the territory in dispute. The Carthaginians supported their cause, by insisting, that “it must belong to them, as being within the limits which Scipio, after conquering the country, had fixed as the boundaries of the Carthaginian territory; and also, by the acknowledgment of the King, who when he was going in pursuit of Aphir, a fugitive from his kingdom, then hovering about Cyrene, with a party of Numidians, had solicited as a favour, a passage through that very district, as being confessedly a part of the Carthaginian dominions.” The Numidians insisted, “that they were guilty of misrepresentation, with respect to the limits fixed by Scipio; and if a person chose to recur to the real origin of their property, what title had the Carthaginians to call any land in Africa their own: foreigners and strangers, to whom had been granted as a gift, for the purpose of building a city, as much ground as they could encompass with the cuttings of a bull’s hide? Whatever acquisitions they had made beyond Byrsa, their original settlement, they held by fraud and violence: for, in relation to the land in question, so far were they from being able to prove uninterrupted possession, Edition: current; Page: [477] from the time when it was first acquired, that they cannot even prove that they ever possessed it for any considerable time. As occasions offered, sometimes they, sometimes the kings of Numidia, had held the dominion of it; and the possession of it always fell to the party which had the stronger army. They requested the senate to suffer the matter to remain on the same footing, on which it stood, before the Carthaginians became enemies to the Romans, or the King of Numidia their friend and ally; and to interfere, so as to hinder whichever party was able, from keeping possession.” The senate resolved to tell the ambassadors of both parties, that they would send persons into Africa to determine, on the spot, the controversy between the people of Carthage and the King. They accordingly sent Publius Scipio Africanus, Caius Cornelius Cethegus, and Marcus Minucius Rufus; who, after viewing the ground, and hearing what could be said on both sides, left every thing as they found it, without giving any opinion. Whether they acted in this manner from their own judgment, or in pursuance of directions received at home, is, by no means certain; but, thus much is most certain, that, as affairs were circumstanced, it was highly expedient to leave the dispute undecided: for, had the case been otherwise, Scipio alone, either from his own knowledge of the business, or the influence which he possessed, and to which he had a just claim, on both parties, could, with a nod, have ended the controversy.

These were two magistrates chosen annually, and invested with powers similar to those of the Roman consuls. The Carthaginians had a senate also like that of the Romans. There was one peculiarity in their proceedings which deserves notice: when the members were unanimous, there was no appeal from their decision; but when opinions were divided, the business devolved to the community at large. For a very long time the people interfered but little with the administration of public affairs; but afterwards, by means of factions and cabals, they almost entirely engrossed it to themselves, which proved a principal cause of their ruin. They had a council consisting of 104 members, called the tribunal of the hundred, to which the commanders of armies were responsible for their conduct.